The Dirty Little Secret
by jesi lily
Summary: It was a different time before the War. Things were done, mistakes covered up, dirty little secrets hidden away. But some do not stay away. Welcome Carina, one dirty little secret who is back in the world making quite the stir. Hermione Granger is her Guardian, trying to fit all the pieces together, along with her own life, and with many secrets, it's set to get more complicated.
1. Chapter 1

"This is absolutely ridiculous," A woman sighed, placing a file on the table, she rubbed her hands over her face, stress was evident. She looked around her small office and felt the twinge of annoyance as she struggled to figure out what was missing. She picked up a piece of blank parchment; she spread it flat on the table, and took hold of a quill. Her writing was fast, but the lines across the parchment were clear. She singed it and delicately folded it, with a single tap of her wand the parchment shot into the air, disappearing out of her office. "Absolutely absurd."

The news had been something of a shock when it had first come through, magic happening in London, in one of the boroughs just outside the central city, however they were unable to explain it. There were no wizards in the area who they could pin it to. And now once again she'd sent for the list of wizards and witches who were yet to join Hogwarts. If it were a child who they had perhaps overlooked, clearly they needed to add them to the list.

She looked at a photograph that sat on her desk, it was her as a child, with her parents. They'd had the shock of their life when they had found out about her abilities as a witch, but she had always reckoned they had taken the news well. Not all parents did.

But there was something else, something small niggling at her. There were no witnesses to the use of magic. When it was a child, frustratingly, magic happened in front of others. It meant hours of work, removing the memories, finding proper excuses. This definitely was not the case, not with this one.

She was distracted form her thoughts as a folded piece of parchment flew into her office. She grabbed it in her hand and unfolded it.

_Miss Hermione Granger, _

_I can assure you for the third time, that as far as we are aware there are no children in that area who are magic users, all children in the area, of which there is one, are known to us. May I suggest you explore other avenues._

_Rufus Fudge_

Hermione frowned at the note, it wasn't helpful, but then Rufus did not particularly like her. She placed the letter down, and frowned, looking back at the little girl in the photo frame. She was small with masses of half frizzy half curly brown hair, she was lightly tanned, a natural olive-ish tone to her skin. She was not an ugly child by any means, but she could have been easily over looked, if it weren't for the hair, with of course the added benefit of massive front teeth.

She looked at the note once more and sighed.

"Other avenues," The young woman muttered, she pushed her chair back and frowned. "Fine Rufus."

* * *

Hermione Granger had worked hard in her short time at the Ministry, she made the effort with other members of the ministry, she was twenty one, with her own office, unlike many others her age. She was highly thought of among her superiors, and supportive of those working under her. And while Rufus disliked her and her keen ability to get the job done without pissing off any of her colleagues, he still couldn't deny her uncanny ability to do a fantastic job at anything she set her mind to.

It had come at a cost, a cost which she regretted. Ron Weasley. They had begun seeing each other at the end of their seventh year, the relationship had fizzled out when she begun to focus more on her career he had begun wanting more from the relationship, their ideals did not meet in the middle, and even for seven years of desire under the surface, something had simply disappeared between them. He was doing well for himself however, and they had for everything remained close.

That was how she had ended up on his doorstep at the end of the day. She'd visited several offices after answers, and nothing seemed to come to light, they were just as clueless as she was. So she stood with a bottle wine in one hand, and a Chinese take-away in the other.

The door swung open, and he was there, tall, broad shoulders, freckled face, mop of orange red hair atop his head, he smiled when he saw her. His eyes looked at the contents on her hands and he chuckled.

"The great Hermione Granger is stumped." He stepped aside, letting Hermione slid into his apartment. He lived in wizarding London, near work. She moved into the sparsely decorated home, a couch, TV, a few pictures. It was nothing special, but suited him well.

"Very much so."

* * *

"No clue at all? Like there's no one on the radar, at all?" Ron sounded bewildered as he sat with a plate held loosely in one hand, a fork in the other. His face was set into a look of surprise, it wasn't often Hermione turned to him for help or advice, but he did have one thing over. He'd grown up in this world. But even for him this was something unusual. "Nothing?"

"Nothing, there's one kid in the area, muggle parents, but we're certain after close inspection that it isn't him," Hermione told her friend feeling frustrated, she had hoped Ron would be able to reveal something that no one else had considered.

Ron looked at his friend and frowned, he could have laughed to himself, this was almost exactly why he and her had spilt up way back when… She got too attached to her work, so he knew it was killing her inside.

"Give me a minute, I'll ask my dad," With that he was on his feet and out of the room.

Hermione smiled to herself, Arthur Weasley the head of Misuse of Muggle Artefacts department. For a while he'd been assigned to counter spells during the war, but when the war finished and it was deemed no longer necessary, he reverted back to where his heart was. Muggle objects. His department was moulded together and his team was bigger. And due to his knowledge and experience, Arthur was still the person they turned to in these kinds of unusual situations.

Ron reappeared within a minute, his face set into a frown.

"Erm, my dad says he'll come talk to you in your office tomorrow."

Hermione too frowned at this, that potentially meant whatever Arthur may have to tell her could be serious, very serious.


	2. Chapter 2

"Can you explain to me the exact situation you have come across is?" Arthur asked as he sat across from Hermione. There was a look of concentration on his face, his wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead deepened as blue eyes took focus on her through his glasses. Arthur looked almost exactly the same as she had always remembered him, expect perhaps a few more grey hairs. "Every detail."

"Ok," Hermione replied, rifling through the file on her desk. "Around a year ago the occasional bit of magic happened just outside of central London, not much was thought of it, however the usage got more frequent. We've looked through all the paperwork, and as far as anyone is aware, there isn't an unregistered magical child in the area."

"Have you considered an unregistered magical adult?" Arthur asked her, Hermione looked up at him confused.

"Er… There's no such thing, Rufus was very insistent," Hermione told Arthur, there was surprise in her voice as she spoke, her words were slow, thoughtful. "I mean, how could an unregistered adult actually occur? All of the children are put on the list the moment they show magic… I mean, they all get found before the age of ten-"

"Not if someone doesn't want them to be found."

Hermione frowned, she looked down in the file in her hands, and then back at the man before her, Arthur Weasley, the loving most accepting man she had ever met, and yet, here he was suggesting that children were hidden. It was ludicrous. Why would any magical family – the only ones who could ever possibly reach the records – want to hide a magical child?

"It's not at all common place, Hermione," Arthur told her, leaning back in his seat and frowning. "I mean, it's very rare, but… Consider the importance that some place on magical blood and magical ability? Does it really seem so strange… Consider certain families, what if one of them produced what appeared to be a squib? The embarrassment it would cause."

"But, this child isn't a squib," Hermione pointed out, confusion dancing in her eyes as she looked at Arthur. "We're experiencing magical incidents, that means they are magical."

"It also means you're not dealing with a child, considering the trace has completely vanished, even for those who get inside help, it's nearly impossible to completely wipe the trace, you should be able to pin point a certain area," Arthur informed her with a grave look upon his face. "I think you're looking for an abandoned adult."

* * *

"That's absolutely mad, how could anyone do that?" Ginny asked the sense of outrage clear in her voice as she sat beside Hermione, a large wine glass in her hand, filled with a pink liquid. Hermione nodded her head in agreement; she had no more answers either. "But to actually abandon a child and let them grow up not realising the truth, I just… That's horrendous. My parents would never have done that to any of us it had happened, I mean, you just get on with it, and put your child in a muggle school."

"Or dump them apparently."

Hermione drained her glass and frowned, before reaching across for the bottle and topping up her glass. Ginny watched her closely, and sighed.

"Guess you've got to go looking for this person then?" Ginny asked, looking at the liquid in her glass before taking a large gulp of it, not the way she would usually drink a good rose wine, but it would do. "Whoever is doing all this magic."

"Well we can't let it go on, and I suppose we should find the family," Hermione replied uneasily. "Imagine leaving a child behind like that, only to find out that the child is a truly magical one, and you just made a massive mistake. I certainly don't think I could that, but whoever did this deserves no less."

"You realise though, if you actually prove this, that there could be a massive political issue stemming from it right?" Ginny asked tentatively. "I mean, old, probably rich families, covering up their squib kids, I can't imagine that making you a favourite with some people."

"I guess they'll have to start thinking twice before they dump their kids then."

Ginny paused and nodded, deciding a different topic of conversation was definitely needed.

"So, have you met anyone else?" Hermione laughed openly at Ginny's question, before setting her wine glass down and shaking her head no. "You should get out there Hermione, you're an attractive intelligent young woman, who actually helped win a war, I mean you're total star quality girlfriend material."

"Yeah, I'm also married to my work," Hermione pointed out, amused by Ginny's probing into her personal life, not that there was really much of one these days. She was not lying when she said she was married to her work, Hermione was career focused at the moment, and it was doing her just well. She'd been able to splash out on a little three bed bungalow, with a nice sized garden in Surrey, it was near her parents, and with the floo network it was hardly a commute to work. Crookshanks was happy here, and so was she, and she'd worked hard to earn it… but she had no one other than her cat to share it with. "And I like my job, it's done me so well."

"Have you at least gotten frisky?" Ginny waggled her eyebrows at Hermione suggestively, but Hermione only snorted in response, before draining her glass once again, certain that if this conversation went any further she would defiantly need it. "Oh Hermione, you're twenty-one, there has to be some sort of _itch_ that just needs _scratching." _

"Not since Ron…" Hermione replied, she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks and see the look on Ginny's freckled face. It was of pure shock, her doe brown eyes had widened and her mouth hung open in amazement. "I just haven't…"

"If you don't watch it Hermione, you'll go stale!"

"Thanks!"

"You know what I mean," Ginny said dismissively, waving her hand. "I just… You and Ron broke up two years ago, that's an awful long time to go… I mean, well I know mine and Harry's fling ended before it really ever turned into anything, but I've still been getting my bit."

"I'm very happy for you," Hermione said with a grin on her face as she looked at her redheaded friend. "But I just haven't felt the need to get my bit, as you so charmingly put it, I'm quite happy, I don't need a man in my life."

* * *

"Are you sure about this Granger?" Rufus' voice held that annoying warning tone in it, the one that always suggested he was going to attempt to put her idea down in some way or another. "This could cause more issues them it would solve problems."

Hermione looked at the man before her, he was about ten years older than her, a dark blonde haired man, who was undoubtedly attractive. But he was determined not to see her overtake him in his position within the office. Originally she'd worked directly beneath him, when she was still new to the job, but it had not taken her long to leave the probationary period. He frowned at her as he leaned back in his chair, reading the report she had written up for him. Much like her, he choose not to wear wizarding robes, but a muggle suit to work, a choice that was often looked down upon, but rarely did anyone look down on either Rufus or Hermione.

"I'm sure."

He looked at her, dropping the paper onto his desk and eyed her determinedly. Her jaw was set, and he knew that she had made up her mind. He was weighing up the options.

"What you're saying in this report is that a ministry official was bribed to make undesirable children disappear?" He asked, and Hermione nodded curtly. "Then we have a problem."

"Look, Rufus, this happened before the war, back when blood status was a much bigger issue then it is at current, therefore I think the bribery issue should be dropped," Hermione stated looking at Rufus with determination, if she let up on this, she'd never garner back any form of respect from him, and they both knew it. "There's someone out there that belongs with us, to learn about the things they are making happen, this is an issue of secrecy, surely not even you can overlook that fact."

Rufus looked at Hermione for a long moment, measuring up his option before finally making his decision.

"You have a point, get the Aurors Granger, you've got a hunt on your hands."

* * *

"You need Aurors to bring in a single adult, that can't even use magic?" Harry asked scratching his head; he looked at Hermione like he could not believe what she was requesting. "Really?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I can't exactly send a letter to an address I don't know, now are you and your partner going to join me, or are we going to stand here a bit longer and wonder about what we're going to do?" Hermione asked firmly, Harry grinned at his friend, remembering so much the smart bossy boots he had known at school.

"Yeah, alright. Piers, you up for this one?"

"Tracking a girl with little or no magical ability, in London, with the delectable Hermione Granger at my side?" Piers, a large muscled man in his late twenties questioned with a cheeky note to his tone. "Count me in."


	3. Chapter 3

She was running, refusing to look over her shoulder, she knew what was coming, she'd imagined it would for a few years now. Eventually someone somewhere would find out and that would be the end of it, of her. But she hadn't been prepared, not today, and running through the streets of London in last night's outfit was not her exact ideal.

Reaching one of the back allies she looked to her left and right, she didn't really think so much as she simply threw herself around the corner and pelted down the right side of the alley. Her heart was thumping; she could hear it in her ears, as well as the sound of her blood rushing wildly through her veins. She honestly thought her heart would leap through her chest as she ran, she could hear traffic, some young lads yelling. She was struggling to breathe.

Her foot caught on a fallen it of branch from one of the overhanging trees, it sent her flying forward. She landed painfully on her left knee, feeling the skin rip, and the gravel embed into her flesh.

"Bollocks!" She hissed, her hands were bleeding, but she had little time to worry, and instead pulled herself to her feet again, her knee felt as if it were on fire, the wound stinging. She was limping slightly, her knee wanting to give up beneath her. She burst out of the alley way and onto the main street, a group of lads eyed her warily, she didn't look particularly dangerous she knew that, but she bet she didn't look great either.

"OI! You alright?" one of the lads yelled to her, but she ignored him and limped away.

She could not go back to her flat, they'd surely find her there, and she didn't really have many close friends to turn to. She felt tears well in her eyes, but she was far too stubborn to let them fall, not knowing what better option she had she made her way towards the city centre.

Her leg was beginning to get really painful, she looked down at herself, she was hardly wearing day wear. A white and golden dress, the bust area was sequined gold and then it went to a white tulip styled skirt, paired with a pair of golden sandals. There was dirt on parts of her skirt, and she was sure she'd lost some of the sequins.

She moved towards a clothes shop and looked around; she picked up a pair of jeans and a plain white Tank top. She paid for them before asking if she could change in the changing room, the girl on the counter gave her an odd look, but nodded. She changed quickly, stuffing her dress in the bag as much as possible; she frowned, but was unwilling to let it go unless completely necessary.

Sighing she walked calmly from the shop, she did not see anyone suspicious looking so made her way out through the crowds. It felt like no one was watching her, she looked over her shoulders, nothing appeared out of the normal at all. She sighed with relief; she must have lost them she reckoned to herself.

Reaching the end of the high street she turned the corner, it was quieter here she turned, looking back to the end of the high street as her feet carried her forward, until she heard a loud bang noise she couldn't place. She spun her heart was banging; her blood was rushing again, adrenaline pumping through her body. A hand reached out fingers touching her arm, she shrieked looking at her assailant, a large dark haired man, she thought it before she could reason the action and he flew away from her, as if someone had lassoed him from behind and yanked, hard.

There was another voice and she ran in the opposite direction, her legs aching and screaming at her in agony. Unprepared for the decision to run around on a Thursday morning through the town, especially after a long night out the night before. She was tired, hung over and completely unprepared for this.

She slowed and took a deep breath, there was no one there, no one behind her, she felt frustration and fear build up inside her, choking her. Tears blurred her vision, she'd been running so much, she'd gotten so far from where they had first appeared, and yet they seemed to always find her. She felt herself thinking of the home, and wishing more than anything to be there, then she heard the familiar popping sound, she didn't open her eyes, instead she thought more about the Home. Life had not been fun there, but she had been safe. She felt a hand on her arm, and she thought more of the Home.

She panicked as it felt like she was being squeezed, but she could not open her eyes. These people were trying to kill her, she knew it, suddenly against the squeezing sensation she pushed and pulled she screamed, she claws and bit, she kicked and punched, she fought with everything there was in her. And just as quickly as it had begun the pressure let up and she opened her eyes and she screamed and kicked and she punched, wanting desperately to get her assailant off her, it took a second to realise that he no longer gripped her.

Looking down on the ground she realised he was on the floor, gripping to his arm and chest with one hand as blood seeped through his fingers, she stepped back, falling over a stone. Pausing she on the ground she crawled forward and reached towards the man.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," She whimpered, placing her hands over his wounds and holding them down trying to stem the bleeding. "Help!"

She'd wait for someone else to help him, then she could leave, and get away. She couldn't leave him here to bleed out. She looked at his face; it was nothing that would have caught her attention if they passed each other on a crowded street, if it weren't for the unusual scar on his forehead. He wore glasses that sat askew on his face at current, they were round and wire rimmed, very old fashioned. He wore a plain white shirt and jeans, there was nothing about him that was out of place, but she was wary.

"Bloody hell! ANYONE! HELP!" The quicker someone came to help, the quicker she got away. No one came however, and she was left there kneeling on the pavement with frustrated tears welling in her eyes. This was not what she needed this morning.

She looked around as she heard the sound of fast footsteps and felt relief.

"Sorry," She whispered before pushing herself to her feet and going in the opposite direction of the footsteps. She made it around the corner of the street before she collided with a body; she mumbled apologies before pushing herself away from the person. Only she did not get far.

"No worries, my bad," The man responded, she shook her head to move on past him only she did not get far before he caught her wrist. "Look sorry, do you want to get a coffee or something?"

Looking at the man she paused, shaking her head no, she did not want coffee.

The guy nodded releasing her wrist; she gave him a small smile before continuing on. She did not pause, keeping her pace steady, not so fast she looked like she was trying to get away from someone, but fast enough that none of the locals decided to approach her. Eventually she reached the local park, if you could call it that. There was a patch of unkempt grass beside a large slab of concrete with the rough of outline of a football pitch drawn on, beside that was a small children's play park, with metal climbing frames and a set of swings.

Meandering to the swings she sat down and frowned. She guessed she always knew it would happen eventually, that some secret government sector would find out about her and she'd spend the rest of her life running, but it was not quite she had expected from today. She'd seen the TV programmes, and while the others kids had scoffed at the abilities that were shown, she'd always known the truth. It wasn't impossible. Here she was living proof.

Understanding everything was difficult, but it was hard to deny that things happened around her, that she could _make_ them happen. All her life, well as far as she could remember, it had been that way. And now she was suffering the consequences of what was … different about her.

There was another pop, she looked up and frowned, hearing a car in the distance she assumed it to be that. She looked across the park, from her position sat gently swinging herself back and forth on the swings she could see someone walk towards her. It was the bloke who asked her for coffee, she stood up feeling uncomfortable. Yeah, so he just turned up here? And with two paper cups in his hands. She stepped back, but he said nothing as he approached her, but slot himself into a swing seat.

"I have coffee," He stated, offering her a cup. She eyed it before quickly taking it from him. Coffee would be a welcome relief after a hard night out clubbing. "So apparently grabbing you isn't the best option, so I'm gonna try reasoning with ya."

Nearly choking on her sip of coffee she looked at him with an accusatory glare.

"Look at it this way, you sit, accept the coffee, I get on with my job quickly and with ease, and you get to understand something beyond your imagining, or you fight me and we both get a little ruffled… Actually thinking about it the fighting doesn't seem so bad at all…"

"I know how this works, yeah, you tell me all this crap, I go with you, and then get locked up for science experiments, no thanks-"

"What crap muggle TV have you been watching?"

She did not respond, simply frowned at the man, he was tall, older than her though not by much it did not appear. He had brown hair that was slightly quaffed, there was stubble lining his jaw, he looked at ease as he sat there in jeans and dark blue t-shirt with a light blue stripped shirt open over the top.

"Talk, make it quick."

"Fine. You're a witch, quick enough for you?"


	4. Chapter 4

She followed them as they led her towards a telephone box; it was down on of the many London back streets, it hardly stood out from the crowd. She turned and looked at the three people who had convinced her that she was about to find her place in the world. Eyebrows raised she could not help but laugh to herself. These people were nutcases, and she was going to walk away.

"Yeah, give us a chance," Michael told her before she got the chance to move. She looked at him with a single raised eyebrow, shrugging as if she was unimpressed. But she remained in place, she liked Michael. He was funny. Witch – yeah, whatever floats your boat sweetheart. His two friends however she was not so sure about.

The guy who had been on the floor bleeding was now beside Michael looking amused, he looked much healthier now. That had been what convinced her to follow them, the man wearing glasses who had been covered in serious cuts reappeared no more than a couple of hours later looking pretty much like nothing had happened at all. The woman was quite stuck up, she wasn't rude or mean in anyway, just… like she knew better.

They shuffled her into the phone box, Michael following her and grinning down at her as she pressed herself against the far wall. He inserted some change, pressed a few buttons and then, just like that, the ground begun to vibrate, and then she saw the ground rise, or the phone box lower, she was confused. She blinked and looked at Michael who winked at her.

And then they landed, and she looked around, behind them there was corridor lined with fireplaces, a couple erupted into emerald flames and oddly dressed people wandered out. Overhead letters appeared to fly and swop in various directions.

She looked at Michael, confusion and fear written across her features.

"Now will you trust me enough to give me your name, Blondie ain't gonna cover it if I decide to take you for dinner," Michael told her with a wolfish grin. "Unless of course Blondie is your name."

"Carina, my name is Carina."

* * *

Hermione Granger was a pretty woman, Carina reckoned as she sat opposite her in a nice office, but she was definitely not any older. She looked around the room, it was light with large windows that she was certain had to be fake because they were underground. There was a large bookcase, a few photos on a large desk, but it wasn't overly personal, if it weren't for the pair of purple fluffy slippers by the door.

"So you're like the government, but the secret magic one?" Carina asked as she pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Something like that, yes," Hermione replied, she opened a notebook before her and smiled at Carina, now that they were both settled with a mug of tea each Hermione didn't appear as stuck up as before. "I need to know more about your background, so we can understand what went wrong."

"Er, like what?" Carina replied, frowning at Hermione as she sat poised with a quill in her hand.

"All of it."

* * *

"Carina Smith-"

"Smith?" Hermione asked with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, well I was dumped on the steps of an orphanage, piece of paper with Carina Smith written on it," Carina said with a shrug of her shoulder, old story to her. "Smith is the most common name of the dumped ones apparently."

"It's hard to trace, but Carina might be a bit more helpful, it's not an overly common English name," Hermione told her.

"Can I ask what happens if you do trace me back to someone? What then, I go from being a nobody who was raised in an over full orphanage, in and out of care homes and with different foster parents, to what?" Her voice was full of a hurt she had buried. She'd not care to know the parents who left her behind.

"Honestly? I don't know, I'm hardly going to ask you to go back to a family who had other ideas, equally, we've overlooked the idea that you have muggle parents who were scared by your magical abilities," Hermione admitted with a small smile. "But either way, this is where you belong."

* * *

"Eleven?" Carina asked as she walked beside Hermione, apparently it was getting late, though Carina felt more than wide awake. Kindly Hermione was filling her in on all the small details that Carina had missed, apparently that was a lot. "So these… Muggle? Muggles, they don't find out if they're witch or wizard until their eleven, why so late?"

"If I'm honest I don't know," Hermione told her with a small shrug. "Tomorrow I'll bring you to Hogwarts, the school I was telling you about. If I meet you at the leaky cauldron at nine in the morning, we can get you some bits, it'll all come out of the ministry budget as a form of compensation. I'm afraid it's all we have to offer at the moment, a place to stay and an education."

"I guess that's all I can expect, right? There's never been anyone to cover my costs before," Carina said with a shrug at Hermione.

Hermione looked at the woman opposite her, a stunningly beautiful young woman; she had completely clear skin free of blemishes or freckles, small slightly upturned nose, with brilliant almost white skin. Atop her head sat a mop of bright ice blonde hair, which carried no frizz but rested gracefully around her shoulders, curling between her shoulder blades. This woman was effortlessly beautiful.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Back in her office Hermione sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. This was one of the few parts of the job she did not enjoy, thankfully it was seemingly rare. She sat back in her seat and sighed once more. Carina Smith was going to kill her career; she knew that as she looked over the notes, they had taken her picture when they had gotten her to agree to come with them to the ministry.

Michael Piers was proving to be handy when it came to talking to Carina, she was open, but responded well to him. And he clearly wanted into her knickers. That was just what they needed, an Auror making a move on the new and absolutely clueless girl.

"You look stressed, Granger," A voice spoke up and Hermione looked up to see Rufus standing in her doorway, he was wearing a dark grey pair of smart trousers with a white oxford shirt and his suit jacket held in place over his shoulder. "I'm heading to a pub, join me."

Hermione eyed the man before her, before collecting her bag and getting to her feet and following him from her office.

* * *

Sitting across from her boss with a large glass of rose wine, was not where Hermione had imagined herself that night. She looked at him, leaning back in his seat, large tumbler of firewhiskey in his hand. He was watching her in the same way she was watching him.

"They told me not to take you on," He told her suddenly, small grin playing across his lips. "_The Hermione Granger? Give her two years and she'll be a risk to your job, suddenly she'll be your boss, that girl is the smartest witch of our age, even Rowena Ravenclaw would be challenged by that one._"

"I don't want your job," Hermione retorted, feeling annoyance build in her. "I never did."

"_The war hero, Harry Potters best friend, they say we could not have won the war without her… Hermione Granger is very popular in the wizarding world, but she's just working as a lowly assistant, let's see how long that last? She'll go up the ranks faster than anyone else." _

"That's not fair," Hermione stated firmly, before taking a large gulp of her wine. "You can't use that against me like I planned the whole damned thing."

"Oh I know you didn't, you're too much a do-gooder for that," Rufus replied a smirk on his face as he spoke, he took a drink and smiled at her over the rim on his glass. He drained his glass with one last amused look before ordering another, and another wine for Hermione.

"We have work tomorrow-"

"I'm more concerned with tonight," Rufus stated, cutting off Hermione, she pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows. "No point in panicking about tomorrow when there is so much promise in tonight."

Now she was stunned, was her boss hitting on her? Hermione literally went blank as she blinked at the man across from her. She gulped and took another large swig from her glass of wine. She was actually speechless and rather uncomfortable; she shifted in her seat, quickly helping herself to another large gulp of wine.

He grinned at her over the top of his glass before finishing it's content and Hermione gulped once more, this only seemed to amuse him.

"You're like a deer caught in the headlights," Rufus told her, his voice heavy with his amusement.

"You don't like me… You're rude and difficult, the last person in the office to ever prove helpful. Now mistake me if I'm wrong, but I think you're hitting on me," Hermione said, sounding more confident in what she was saying than she truly felt. "So yes, a little caught off guard."

"Come back to mine."

* * *

Her back was against the wall, his hands on her hips as he explored her mouth with his tongue. This was all very new and very different to anything she had experienced before. He was not gentle with her, nor she with him, in fact there was nothing gentle at all about what they were doing. It was dizzying, electrifying and very sexy. And she had no idea it had been in her at all to do this, with anyone.

He released her hips to pull the blazer from her shoulders, down her arms, carelessly discarded onto the floor. He ran his hands up her arms and felt the goose pimples that arose beneath the heat of his hands. He smirked, liking the affect he had on this controlled young woman. His fingers trailed down her neck and his lips quickly followed. She let out little breathy moans and it was perhaps one of the more glorious thing's he had ever heard, the complete undoing of the bossy, control freak.

She pushed him away only far enough so she could get to his shirt buttons, his jacket long forgotten by the front door. She made quick work of them, pushing the shirt down his arms quickly; she paused for a second to see his body.

"Holy crap!" She breathed before she could stop herself, sure she knew Rufus went to the gym at least three times a week – she'd expressly been told not to bother attempting to book a meeting with him when he went. But she'd not quite excepted him to be quite so… Buff. Ron was a professional quidditch player and was lean, but Rufus had muscles. She heard him laugh and swatted at his face, but he grabbed her wrists, and nibbled on the inner part of her wrist, and action that got a very good reaction that distracted her from his body.

Her body was tingling all over, she was dizzy and this was exactly what she needed. _Maybe Ginny was right afterall_.

She didn't get the chance to ponder it much more however as Rufus picked her up and carried her to the sofa, dropping her, she blinked up at him, surprised, but she did not have to wait for him to join her.


	5. Chapter 5

"Coffee?" A voice that she was confused at hearing asked, Hermione blinked open her eyes and saw stood at the bottom of her bed Rufus Fudge, he was wearing a pair of smart trousers and wore his shirt open, tie hanging around his neck undone. She frowned.

"What are you doing…" But she caught sight on her surroundings, and realised she was not where she thought she was… She was under a thick blanket, lying on a sofa in an unfamiliar living room. She gasped. "Ah shit."

"You've got to hurry up, aren't you meeting the girl at nine?" Rufus asked, placing a mug of steaming coffee on the floor beside Hermione. "It's eight, you have an hour."

* * *

To say that Hermione felt frazzled as she stepped into the Leaky Cauldron would be an understatement. She fussed over her shirt, and skirt, smoothed her hair back into its bun several times, before giving up altogether and finding herself a seat after ordering herself a large coffee. She didn't have to wait long before she spotted Carina walking towards her.

"Hi, I hope you found everything alright?" Hermione asked, as she got to her feet, guiding Carina to the nearest seat.

"Erm, mostly, yeah… Er, there's this weird noise coming from the room next to mine, I kinda thought it was someone having sex at first…" Carina admitted quietly, clearly not wanted to be overheard. "I'm not so sure anymore."

"At this point I'd suggest you just don't question it," Hermione responded with a small smile, Carina nodded, sitting back in her chair and looking around. Hermione watched her for a moment before collecting together her bag. "Let's take you to Hogwarts."

* * *

It was a tragic beauty. There were no other words for it as she looked up at the castle, it was everything a fairy-tale castle should look like, but burdened by the clear damage of time, or perhaps something more. They walked through large iron gates, and along the path, the majestic castle seemingly looming over them. Under the clear bright sky it was clear that there were cracks in the stone work, and certain part of it seemed to be missing altogether. And still it was beautiful. There were princess towers, large windows and the grounds themselves appeared endless. She could smell the lake, hear animals, it was a haven… Nothing at all like her orphanage.

"You went to school here?" She asked, her wonder tainted by the tone of jealousy that she could not keep out of her voice.

"Yes," Hermione replied simply, smiling at the building with fondness. "It was home or me, admittedly it carries with it some of the worst memories, but for the most part they are just... fantastic."

"It looks like it's taken a beating," Carina commented as she eyes a tower missing the top half of what she assumed was a pointed roof.

"It did, we all did." Hermione replied, Carina looked at her curiously, she knew it was probably something Hermione didn't want to talk about, but it was something Carina wanted to hear. "There was what we call The War, a battle between us and them… My friend Harry, you met him, black hair and glasses… He was wanted dead by a man who wanted to rule the world, but not just to rule the world, but constrict it. What we call muggles, he deemed them unworthy because of their lack of magical ability, he saw witches and wizards who were born from those families as unworthy. People like me. And maybe you."

"What happened?" Carina asked tentatively.

"A lot of people died, a lot of people changed, everything changed…" Carina watched Hermione as she spoke, it was clear that even now some wounds had not quite healed. "But it ended, and we all got to move on with our lives, for Harry it was the first time he was ever in control of his own fate… I went back to school for a year, to catch up with everything I had missed, Ron and Harry, well, they carved their own paths."

"So there's no war now?" Carina asked as tactfully as possible, it did not seem safe to be running into a war torn world which she knew very little of. But Hermione shook her head no.

"It's been four years since The War, we're still picking up a few of the pieces, but all things considered, normality is starting to kick in."

"Normality, says the witch," Carina joked, attempting to break the weight that had fallen over them, Hermione laughed, and Carina was grateful for the sound. They approached the building and Carina was honestly amazed, it didn't get much better than this. "Who went to school in a castle."

* * *

"Imogen, thank you for seeing us, I know it's your holiday, but this is quite important, I hope you understand," Hermione said as she reached a hand forward and shook the hand of the older woman before her, though older she couldn't have been that much older. Perhaps her mid-thirties, a woman with dark curls pinned back away from her face, she had thin lips, but not an unkind face.

"Of course Hermione," The woman replied, her eyes darting towards Carina. The call had come as something of a surprise, that much was written across the womans face, it was only the beginning of August, she probably had a month of Holiday – well at least she did until Carina showed up. "Minerva is quite put out by the whole situation, but then again, she's not overly surprised."

"She's by herself on that one Imogen, how is your aunt by the way?" Hermione asked politely, making the other woman smile warmly.

"Restlessly awaiting the chance to see you, and meet our newest student." Imogen turned and moved into the castle, leaving Carina and Hermione to trail behind her. All along the walls were large paintings, with their occupants moving freely, Carina watched them with fascination, as one of them blinked back at her.

"Miss? Is it you? Oh… My apologies my dear, It's been an awfully long time…" The old man recalled, adjusting the glasses that were perched on his nose to look more closely at her.

"Excuse me?" Hermione interrupted looking at the painting with surprise, the but man appeared to shake himself awake and frowned.

"My apologies miss, the time seems to catch up with me…I thought it was an old student…"

Carina looked at Hermione who stared right back at her, the expression on Hermione's face made her ponder, clearly it meant something to Hermione.

"Come, we'll go see Minerva."

They made it to the office with no other incidents. The room itself was fairly large, separated into two section with a lower and higher section, in the higher bit there was a large desk, with various contraptions around it, the lower was mostly books and portraits though they seemed to cover most of the walls.

"Minerva, this is Hermione, and her guest, Carina," Imogen said and the woman behind the desk, and looked up, she was a stern looking woman – but the moment her yes landed on Carina her face fell into a look of shock.

"Well, Hermione, I think I can give you some good ideas of where this one came from."

* * *

"I hope you realise the implications of this?" Hermione hissed under her breath as she looked at Rufus, there was no intimacy in-between them now as she stood at his desk, her hand pressed a photo down onto his desk. He stared at it, before closing his eyes and grasping the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb. Hermione's eyes didn't leave him, because there was an issue, one which neither of them could avoid. "I'm going to lose my job, that much is for sure, but that's only one issue! What the hell do we do with her?"

"Only the infallible Hermione Granger could not see this one coming," Rufus sighed as he leant back in his chair, looking Hermione in the eye.

"That's where you're wrong I knew this was going to spell the end of my career, did you?" Hermione demanded, it was an odd position for her to be in, to be looking at the man that not twenty-four hours ago she was kissing passionately against a living room wall and now knowing he knew as well as she did that she was going to lose her job – and not do a single thing about it. "After all you sprouted all this rubbish about me taking your job, so what, just let me get fired?"

"Hermione, will you just shut up and sit down!" Rufus barked, usually Hermione would have argued, but there was something in his tone that stopped her, instead she sat in the chair opposite him. "What we can do is wait… Handle this privately, as much as possible, forewarn the family, before introducing her to them-"

"You are kidding right?" Hermione burst out indignantly, frowning at Rufus.

"No, we have to be smart about this, not moral," Rufus replied with a small smirk in Hermione's direction, one which she did not return. "Look at this way Granger, do this right and your place within the ministry is guaranteed, if you don't you're right, your career is over. Now, what are you plans for tonight?"

* * *

Seething. There was no other word for it as Hermione stormed down to Auror department, slamming into Harry's office without knocking, grateful for the fact he was alone, though looking alarmed.

"What's wrong?" He asked tentatively, unsure of how else to deal with Hermione when she was like this.

"Rufus, the absolute pig!"

Harry frowned at Hermione, he had known their working relationship to be strained, but usually Hermione was more calm and collected, for her to have just burst into his office like that. Well, he was sure whatever it was that it couldn't be good.

Hermione stopped pacing to look at Harry, the anger dissipated for her face as she looked at him. Instead her face pulled into a look of guilt that Harry rarely ever saw on the face – Hermione rarely did anything to feel guilty about.

"See, the thing is, Rufus and I, we went for a few drinks…" Hermione started, speaking slowly considering her words, the look of guilt only worsening on her face. "And… Well… We slept together."

"Rufus? As in Rufus Fudge… Your boss?" Harry asked astounded, one of the last things Harry had imagined Hermione partaking in was a fling with her boss. It wasn't quite her style, admittedly he'd known she hadn't been dating since Ron, and there's only so much single life a woman can take, but Rufus and her frequently butted heads. The look on her face confirmed it, and Harry could not help himself, he burst out laughing. Wholeheartedly he laughed.

"Harry!" Hermione cried outraged as she looked at her best friend, feeling awfully let down by his reaction.

"Well," Harry murmured as he recovered, grinning at Hermione. "Will you be seeing him again? I mean, you'll be seeing every day, but y'know what I mean."

"Oh, I don't know Harry!" Hermione snapped, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked at her clearly amused friend. "Look, that isn't even really the issue. I have some confidential information for you."

She explained the conversation with Rufus and the visit to Hogwarts, telling him about everything she had learned about Carina, which in truth wasn't a lot. But then, she had a few of the basics. Including a birthday. Well, estimated birthday, which was summertime… Apparently whoever dumped her on the orphanage doorsteps decided against leaving an actual birthday.

"So, that's the guess then?" Harry said thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair, looking thoughtful.

"That's the guess."

"You know, Rufus might be right… I think you've got to go with his suggestion. I mean, what other options do you really have?"


	6. Chapter 6

Taking a deep breath, Hermione looked at herself in the mirror that sat in her office, feeling nervous. She combed her hair through, touched up her mascara, smoothed down her shirt and skirt. She knew it was ridiculous, but she'd not ever anticipated having to face this responsibility. The door clicked open and she was faced with Rufus leaning against her door frame.

"Well?" He asked expectantly.

"Pardon? I'm about to see our latest issue, I don't recall having any sort of meeting with you, so if you'll excuse me…" Hermione stated moving towards her desk, picking up her handbag and pulling her blazer from the back of her chair.

"I'll be going with you Granger," Rufus told her, refusing to move aside to let her leave her office, rather she was stood there directly in front of him, to keep herself distracted she began to button up her blazer. "Consider me moral support, after all, it's my job on the line too if you screw this up…"

With that he stepped aside letting her pass him.

"And after I can take you for dinner. Either to commiserate or celebrate."

* * *

Lying on her bed and looking up at the canvas that covered the top of the four poster bed, she was bored. Hermione had been great in the fact she'd gotten her somewhere to stay, but she had work, and Carina ended up locked in her room more often than not. As those thoughts occurred to her, there was a knock at the door.

Getting to her feet she pulled it open and frowned, standing at her door was someone she didn't recognise. A petite, slim redhead, dressed in a pair of jeans, brown leather boots and a flowing cream brown top that was pulled in with a brown belt, long red hair was left down hanging straight, though with a volume that Carina was instantly jealous of. She was a pretty woman, definitely no older than carina herself.

"I'm Ginny Weasley, it's Wednesday afternoon, it's sunny out, you don't have anything to do. So follow me." Carina just stared at the woman, completely baffled. "I'm a friend of Hermione's, she contacted me, and I am here to rescue you, unless, of course, you'd prefer to stay in your room."

"I haven't got any money or anything, or clothes… Or anything…" Carina responded, she hadn't really had much chance to pack, but Ginny only grinned at her, pulling out a little purse which dangled.

"Apparently the Ministry will cover your costs, so, come with me, and I'll take you shopping."

* * *

"You can really shop," Carina commented as she looked at the bags that surrounded the table they were sat at, each bulging. "I mean, _really_ shop."

"Well, I come from a poorer background, shopping was a treat, given this opportunity, well, I was hardly going to leave it hanging."

Carina laughed, it had been an odd beginning but brilliant time with Ginny, she was sarcastic and smart, she'd also been simply a good laugh. They had nattered about nothing in particular, there was no stress from Ginny to absorb large amounts of information at once, neither did she pry into Carinas life. Though she wasn't embarrassed to ask certain questions.

"No boyfriend? Er, why not?" Ginny demanded as a waitress delivered the food they had ordered upon their arrival.

"I'm just not the dating type." Carina replied with a shrug, but Ginny smirked at the response, making Carina laugh. "What? Men only complicate everything, and it's not like I exactly know how to rely on someone… I dunno… Is there even anyone available?"

"Of course!" Ginny laughed. "Who have you met?"

"Erm, two police kinda guys-"

"Aurors."

"Yeah, erm, a guy with glasses and a scar-"

"You met Harry," Ginny stated, smiling in a way that Carina could not place, Ginny seemed to realise this. "Me and Harry had a thing, a few years back, I was sixteen, him seventeen, we were in the middle of the war, Harry was actually leading it… Made for some pretty intense emotions."

"And then what?" Carina asked, curious to whether normal relationships were even doable in this world.

"And then the war was over, the intensity dissipated, and it was two people trying to make a relationship work… And it just didn't. In a time when we were so young, and everything was on the line there was something in having that relationship… But when reality struck, when it came to home, job, kids, marriage, the long haul, we just didn't click." Ginny explained, it was odd for Carina, she'd never had a best friend, or whatever, but she was pretty sure it would be something like what it was like sitting across from Ginny and hearing the absolute truth. "Did you meet his partner?"

"Partner?"

"Work partner, Michael Piers?" Ginny corrected herself with amusement in her voice.

"The cute one?" Carina asked with a smile on her face. "Yeah, I have, he was… yeah…"

Ginny laughed, nodding her head as she did so.

"He is isn't he?" She grinned, leaning back in her chair, she eyed the young woman across from her, her smile fading. Carina watched her back, feeling the confusion radiate from the redhead. "Do you think they'll get back to you soon about your parentage?"

"I hope so..." Carina sighed. "I really do hope so."

* * *

"Please, excuse our intrusion into your home, but I hope you understand that discretion is of the upmost importance in a situation as unique as this one," Rufus said ever so charmingly, so much so it nearly made Hermione's skin crawl – given the reason they had appeared on the doorstep of this worryingly familiar house.

They were met with a stony silence of course, but then again, Hermione had not expected a warm welcome. The only sign of any welcome at all was that the person who blocked their entry stepped aside, though obviously begrudgingly.

Rufus swept into the house with a confidence that Hermione struggled to match, she knew that any sign of weakness would be picked upon instantly, so she steadied herself and followed Rufus through the door. It was light in the house; clearly it had been redecorated since her last visit about three years ago. For a moment she was amused by her own memory of the décor of the house – given the circumstances of her last visit.

"Well, Rufus, I'd like for you to make this quick," A voice snapped suddenly behind her, Hermione whirled quickly, the suddenness and closeness to her made her jump. She looked at the speaker; he eyed her coldly through ice blue eyes, the disdain made clear on his tightly pursed lips. He was pale and older than she remembered him – the criminal lifestyle had not suited him well. "I don't have time to waste."

"Of course, Lucius," Rufus agreed with a small polite smile. "It's about a girl, well, a young woman who has come into the care of the Ministry."

Hermione watched the face of Lucius Malfoy closely, waiting to see if a single thing passed across his face, but nothing did. The creaking of a floorboard made Hermione turn, they were stood still in the grand hallway, she spotted a woman, still beautiful despite the few wrinkles that lined her eyes.

"And of what concern of ours is the girl?" Lucius drawled, leaning forward on his cane, the snake eyes seemingly watching Hermione as she stood there, looking between Rufus, Lucius and his wife.

"That's the thing Lucius, the issue we're facing," Rufus explained slowly, still sounding friendly as he spoke. "She appears to be your daughter, and I'm sure considering the fact that you appear not to have a daughter, or at least, one registered with us, you can see our… Query."

* * *

"That went much better than I expected," Rufus commented as he wandered away from the house, there was a smirk on his face that Hermione couldn't quite place.

"Rufus, we were kicked out of the house, and it went better than you expected?" Hermione demanded, confused as anything as she looked at her boss who was clearly unbothered by the turn of events.

"Yes, but he didn't threaten action within the ministry, now why would someone so high in society, and within the ministry, overlook that little step unless they had something to hide?" Rufus asked Hermione, pulling her down a quiet little alley way, down the side of the grounds of the Malfoy manor. "And Granger, I must say you impressed me today, it couldn't have been easy being back there – let's not pretend the world isn't aware of what happened in that household during the war. I wasn't entirely sure I could let you go alone, but you kept your composure very well."

Heat, bright red, searing heat rose to her cheek. A compliment from Rufus was rare, but not unwelcome.

"Now, I'm going to take you out for an early dinner, and then back to mine-"

"But-"

"No buts Granger, listen to your boss."


	7. Chapter 7

"Doesn't this warrant sexual harassment?" Hermione gritted out as she picked up her shirt off the floor, it was becoming too easy to follow his command, it would be a lie to say she wasn't attracted to Rufus. And yet she didn't quite want to admit it out loud just yet either.

"Are you feeling particularly harassed?" Rufus asked, his voice full of a dark humour. He remained in place on the bed, hands behind his head as he watched her gather her clothes, clad only in the lacy black French knickers she had put on that morning, the matching bra which was being covered by the white shirt she was buttoning up over it.

"Harassed is perhaps not the right word." Hermione admitted, as she pulled her black pencil skirt on, zipping it up. She looked at the man and smiled despite herself. "Is this to be an on-going theme? Work as per usual, lunch or dinner, then back to yours for sex, before I rush out to get on with work, while you proceed to languish around with that rare smile on your face?"

"I must admit I am quite enjoying myself," Rufus stated, pushing himself up off the bed, and walking shamelessly towards Hermione – completely naked. "And you do have work to do Granger, I on the other hand am the boss, and can do as I please."

"I'll inform the minister of that," Hermione quipped as she looked up at Rufus, trying to stop the heat rising to her cheeks once more.

"Are you a telling tales Granger?" Rufus laughed, before bending his head down and capturing her lips within his own. "Tell Kingsley all you want, but don't be surprised when he questions you on how you know what I'm getting up to… I'd love to be there to see your face when you admit to sleeping with a senior member of the Ministry."

"You are a bastard."

* * *

Hermione was distracted as she sat at her desk, she was trying to continue her report on the Carina Smith case, but it was more difficult to write than she thought. She was grateful then when there was a knock at her door, it pushed open to reveal a familiar redhead.

"Hermione, I have to admit, I like her," Ginny stated as she sauntered into her friends office, grinning as she flopped down onto the chair opposite Hermione. "Now that I kept your little charge distracted for the day, want to explain?"

"Explain?" Hermione asked curiously.

"How you're going to explain to her what happened? Because one look at that girl and it's blatantly obvious what family she comes from."

To be honest it was a feeling of relief, relief in that statement. If Ginny could spot it, Ginny who was someone who was well and truly out of the loop – then it was becoming more of a statement of fact over suggestion.

"Official Ministry lockdown on this one Ginny, but thank you for keeping her company, Rufus and I needed to go see some people," Hermione said gratefully, smiling at her friend as she leaned back in her seat. "Do you have the receipts for everything? I'm sure Rufus would be more than happy to cover the costs."

Ginny grinned back her friend, pulling out a pile of receipts and placing them on Hermione's desk.

"We needed to get her a new wardrobe."

* * *

"A wand?" Carina asked as she looked around the store that Hermione had brought her to, Ginny had walked her past it when they went shopping, it had caught her interest, but then so had a free shopping spree. "I get a wand?"

"Yes you do, we just have to find it."

It was a bit like watching a child on Christmas day, as they took in the lights, the sounds and rush of Christmas, wide eyed and fascinated by everything. Carina had that look on her face – the look of wonder as her fingers traced along the walls, stacked endlessly high with small purple boxes. Footsteps distracted her, causing her to look at the aging man who appeared from within the stacks.

"Well, this is a surprising turn of events," He commented, watery blue eyes watching her keenly. He was old, verging ancient in Carina's eyes, but there was a spark in the old man, intelligence there. "I assume as I do not recognise your exact face you are still new?"

"Oh, erm, yeah?" Carina looked to Hermione with confusion as she stepped towards the old man, but Hermione only shrugged in response, leaning against the counter, on which there was an old, bronze till. "I need a wand."

"I would hope so, otherwise you are in the wrong store, Miss…"

"Smith, Carina Smith."

"Smith," The man repeated, looking amused as he did so. "I think I have exactly what you are looking for."

The man hobbled around the counter, he was shorter than her, and dressed oddly, like many of the people around her did in this place, he wore a neckerchief and waistcoat, with robes over the top. He grasped in his wrinkly hands a ladder that looked on the verge of collapsing, pulled it to a shelf and stepped up it. Carina didn't see anything after that until she heard the sound of him stepping back onto the creaky floorboards, so certain was she that the whole ladder was about to collapse.

"Hawthorne with dragon heartstring, fourteen inches, bendy," He opened the purple box and offered the wand to Carina, she eyed the thin stick, it was smooth and thin, it had carvings in the wood, tiny little silver swirling lines which thinned out the further up the wand they got, the wood was dark, almost black, and the last few inches the swirls gathered together and rose out of the wood to form a sort of silver coloured handle. In truth, it was beautiful. "Try it."

"How?" Carina asked, her hand hovering over the wand cautiously.

"Give it a wave."

Plucking it between her fingers she stared at the stick… the wand. Unsure of what exactly to do with the wand, she did the only thing that felt right, she waved it in circles. Apparently she was rewarded, because she felt warmth in her hands, all around her body.

"Now that was one of my finer choices."

* * *

"We'll be able to start teaching you now, to help you learn magic properly," Hermione told her as they sat sipping on coffees in the leaky cauldron, their new purchases around the table. "One to one tuition, it should take you a small portion of the time to be fully up to date."

"A small portion, didn't you say you were there for seven years?" Carina asked with confusion.

"Yes, but we're hoping for the best." Hermione said with a hopeful smile, Carina laughed, she honestly laughed, because on that one the maths simply did not add up. Her face must have said as much, given Hermione's reaction. "Where needs be I can help you… It won't be easy."

"And the whole time I have to stay here?" Carina asked, pointing to the ceiling, Hermione eyed the ceiling pulling a face as she did so.

"No, we'll… We'll work something out in the meantime," Hermione replied, though she did not know what they would do.

"Ok…"

"I'm sorry Carina, when I have information I can pass to you…" Hermione wanted to desperately to tell her the truth, but it wasn't like anything was going anywhere quickly. She wanted to do more, to help her somehow. "Would you consider moving in with me?"

There was surprise written across Carina's face at the unexpected question, but a light in her eyes at the idea.

"I practically live like a Muggle, I have a computer and all that, I have a car, but my house links to the floo network, so if you need to get around you can," Hermione told her with a small smile on her face as she saw the positive reaction on Carina's face. "Plus it means you can move out of here, and I can claim half of my mortgage back while you're staying with me."

* * *

"Are you sure Granger?" Rufus' voice was full of conflict as he leaned back in his office chair, he rubbed his chin as if he were considering the ramifications – which he probably was. He watched her closely; there had been surprise on his face when she had first suggested that Carina move in with her. But in truth it made sense, she'd be there to tutor her and help with her studies, while at the same, introducing her to wizarding society. And it was no lie that they all knew that even despite the new owner they were still charged double for a room per night. Plus, the young owner, a woman by the name of Hannah Abbott, held no responsibility over an untrained magic user under her roof, Hermione would. On the other hand… "The Malfoys will most probably be very pissed off by that decision, should I agree to it."

"Is that really your issue?"

"My issue, Granger, is keeping my staff protected, while covering my own arse," Rufus retorted, smirking when Hermione raised a single eyebrow at him. "I understand you do not think highly of them, and for that I cannot blame you. And yet, it remains, they do still hold a certain amount of sway within the ministry, and I find myself unwilling to lose you at current."

"I think that's an admission that you may be rather fond of me Rufus," Hermione replied with mock horror on her face as she stood opposite him. He let out a bark like burst of laughter before smirking at her. "Are you feeling unwell."

"You're an asset, Granger, and sometimes it doesn't hurt to name drop."

"Name drop?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Yes Granger, it doesn't hurt the wily little weasels that we have to occasionally contact to let them know if they would rather not deal with me, they could always deal with Hermione Granger," Rufus noted, trying to be innocent in his comments. "She was very instrumental in the Great war, incapacitating many single handily…"

"You really are a bastard!" Hermione sighed with exasperation, turning on her heel and heading to the door, hearing his laughter behind her. "And stop name dropping my name!"


	8. Chapter 8

There was a loud knock on her door, Hermione opened to mouth to call the visitor, but it was pushed open before the words left her mouth, and she found herself looking at a nervous young man, one of the new ones, nearly straight out of Hogwarts, standing there, looking at her, shaking in his shoes?

"Miss Granger, Mr Fudge sent me, said it was very urgent and you had to go to his office immediately!" The young man all but screamed at her. Hermione raised a single eyebrow at him, before getting to her feet, smoothing down her skirt she walked towards him. His reaction was to fall backwards over his own feet. "Sorry!"

"Breathe, it's Harper, isn't it?" Hermione said calmly, as she locked her office behind her, the boy needed and she smiled. "No need to work yourself up, and never open Rufus' door before he calls you in, he doesn't take to it as kindly as I do."

* * *

It was hardly a surprise to see Rufus was not alone in his office – it wasn't his style to instil fear into the newbies, which meant if he had there had to be a reason for it. The reason was quite evident as she looked into the room, in the form of two blonde haired people, sat stiffly in the chairs opposite Rufus, looking none to be pleased to be in his office at all.

"Hermione, thank you for joining us," Rufus drawled, not even looking in his direction, but remaining fixed upon the couple before him, though there was the slightest upturn of his lips. He indicated towards a plush arm chair that appeared beside him, front of the quick note quill. Hermione strode purposefully forward, taking a seat beside Rufus and examining the couple before her. Lucius was unusually stony faced while Narcissa kept her eyes low. "As you can see, the Malfoys have come to visit, I informed them that as we are dealing with their unique case together that I required your presence."

Hermione nodded her head once, though why the explanation was required she was not sure, perhaps to draw out what she consider inevitable.

"Well, Lucius, Narcissa, would either of you like a drink? Tea, coffee?" Rufus asked politely, only to receive a scowl form Lucius.

"Enough of these games, Fudge, you're not a blithering idiot like your damned uncle, and this is clearly below all of us," Lucius suddenly snapped, his reaction nearly made Hermione laugh, though she somehow managed to hold it back. His discomfort at the whole situation was amusing to her. "We're here about the girl."

"Ah, of course, the girl," Rufus murmured, he crossed his arms, tapping his bottom lip with his index finger, making that 'hmmm' noise, it was clearly a cause for immense irritation to Lucius. "I think this is perhaps best for Miss Granger to clarify with you."

Hermione pursed her lips – the last thing she wanted to do in this world was have a polite conversation with Lucius Malfoy, the very sight of him made her skin crawl, but then, she still bore the scars of their most famous encounter. Squaring her shoulder she walked forward, her head held high, Rufus stood and offered her his chair, she gave him a grateful smile before looking up at last at the Malfoys.

Of course they looked as immaculate as ever, all cool and collected. If it weren't for the occasional nervous twitch she'd feel intimidated by the pair.

"Let's start at the very beginning, I want her given name."

* * *

_Name: Carina Elle Malfoy _

_Birth date: 5__th__ June 1080_

_Family: Lucius Malfoy & Narcissa Malfoy (parents), Draco Malfoy (twin brother). _

"She's his twin sister, well, that will be news, won't it?" Hermione murmured as she took notes on the information that she was being given, though it was coming along slowly. Apparently they had issues with revealing the truth regarding the daughter they had abandoned. "So why? I think that's the real question."

"Why?" Lucius asked, sounding irritated and confused by the question.

"Why, yes Mr Malfoy," Hermione replied, her tone clipped as she looked at the man who disgusted her more than anyone else she could think of that was still living or walking free. "Why did you abandon a perfectly normal child to a muggle orphanage?"

"We hadn't realised that was what we were doing." Narcissa finally spoke, her voice measured, all perfectly contained. "The girl… Carina, she… There were things happening, magic was being used, we just assumed, Draco as the oldest and our son, it had to be him… it just had to be."

"You decided that all evidence of magic had to be your son?" Hermione demanded, knowing she wasn't hiding the outrage on her face. She honestly not get her head around that decision, it made absolutely not sense to her at all.

"Draco was the Heir, it _had_ to be him," Lucius scoffed as he looked at the expression on Hermione's face. It was said with such simplicity and with a tone of arrogance, it was evident that any other explanation had never even been considered by him, it had to be his son, because why would a _girl_ have more power than their beloved son. Their beloved heir. So everything was put on him. He was their answer. And that was that. "The girl was feeble as a child, that fact she survived alone was surprising enough."

Absolutely aghast at what she was hearing, Hermione turned and looked at Rufus who was leant against the wall; arms cross over, with an index finger rest against his lips. He had never looked so calculating before. He pushed forward, wandering towards Hermione until he was stood beside her and looked at the couple before them.

"So what do we do now?" He murmured before clapping his hands together. "It's quite clear that your ignorance and arrogance has put us all in a very difficult position, as it is currently Carina is staying with Miss Granger until something else-"

"No!" Lucius barked suddenly, getting to his feet, pointing at Hermione angrily. "No one associated with me will be staying that that wretched m- Woman!"

"Lucius Malfoy, either sit down or get out of my office!" Rufus thundered, it was so suddenly violent, that even Hermione shook for a second, glancing at Rufus from the corner of her eye, but he did not look back at her. Instead he stared at Lucius with the most furious look on his face, until the blonde man did in fact sink back into his chair. "You are not in any position to dictate where the girl stays, nor are you to ever attempt to use the language you very nearly used in my office! Are we quite clear?" Lucius nodded curtly, pursing his lips as he leant back in the chair he had retaken. "Good. Out of courtesy I'm going to ask what you think we should do in this situation, and perhaps take it under advisement."

"You are making a big mistake Fudge!" Lucius snarled, only to have Rufus look back at him with an amused smirk, raising a single eyebrow at him.

"We could of course, let this small issue become a much less discreetly handled issue, if you'd prefer?" Rufus responded in a polite tone, which hid nothing. The intent was as clear as day. Lucius pursed his lips and Rufus smiled. "Well, if that's all, you may carry on with your day, myself and Miss Granger have a lot to consider."

In total silence, and without so much as a small smile on her face, Hermione watched as the couple gathered themselves together and quickly exited the office, not once looking over their shoulders. When the door closed she turned and looked at Rufus, blankly for a moment before finally she let out a massive sigh. She closed her eyes for a second, rubbing her hand across her face when she felt a hand on her arm, she nearly shrieked. Shoving herself back and looking at the person opposite her, it took a second for her to realise it was Rufus.

He was frowning, a deep, disturbed frown. He held his hands up as if to show he meant no hard, and Hermione nodded, though she felt ridiculous, how silly was she to do that to her boss? Her skin was crawling from being in their presence.

"I'm going to ask once, and only this once, two things," Rufus commented as he watched Hermione closely, his arms folded across his chest, pulling the shirt sleeves taunt against his muscled arms, a pleasant thought to distract oneself with. "What happened in that house? And can you work with them because of it?"

"No one needs to know exactly what happened to me in that house," Hermione answered quietly, not meeting Rufus' eye as she stood there, suddenly brutally aware of all her scars. "But yes, I can, and fully intend on seeing this one through to the end."

His hands were on her again, tilting up her chin, and she was looking into light blue eyes that searched her own. His browns were furrowed, his lips set into a concentrated frown.

"I'm going to see Kingsley, be ready at six." Rufus stated, with a small quirk of the lips, stepping back from Hermione, his hand snow in his pockets.

"Oh, er, why?" Hermione asked a little flustered, and blinking rapidly.

"I'm going to tell him I'm taking you out for dinner, at six. I thought you were quicker than this Granger," Rufus laughed, watching Hermione as she gathered her thoughts together.

"And you're asking for Kingsleys permission? I know his the Minister for Magic but-"

"No Granger," Rufus laughed heartedly. "He is Minister for Magic, but no, I'm not asking his permission, not exactly, just informing him of some in department dating, we have policies about it."

* * *

In truth, Carina was bored. She went to school, came back, and mostly hung out in the house. Hermione had made the effort to make sure she and Carina went out at least a couple of times a week, if only for dinner, she'd even brought cable for the TV to keep Carina occupied. All of which Carina was endlessly grateful for – after all, Hermione didn't need to do any of that for her. It was just that it wasn't really giving her anything to do to really distract her form the bigger issue.

Her parents.

Who could still be anyone. It was difficult in the house, as Hermione was only able to tell her small bits of information, until she and Rufus had figured out what they were going to do. Carina understood, but at the same time it was highly frustrating. She wanted to know, she'd been in this world for a couple of weeks now, and it all seemed to be dragging.

Sighing she clicked the kettle on, leaning against the counter in the kitchen, it was large for a kitchen, with dark wood cabinets and black marble counters. The kitchen sat at the back of the house, looking out into an equally large garden, which backed into a small wooded area, the sun disappearing behind them in a brilliant shade of orange.

Upon hearing the roar of the fireplace coming to life, Carina grabbed another mug, ready to make Hermione a cup of tea.

"Carina, I think I need your help!"

* * *

"An actual date, not like dinner before he ravages you?" Carina asked surprised. The last few days as the two women begun to open up to each other more, Carina had learnt about Hermione's fling with her thirty one year old boss, who was ten years older than the twenty one year old Hermione. He was also deliciously sexy, and good in bed apparently. Carina could see the appeal, especially for Hermione, he challenged her intellectually, and he wasn't intimidated by her, which was apparently an issue.

"Yes, like an actual date," Hermione groaned as she flopped down onto her bed, as Carina stared into her wardrobe. Hermione had clothes, some very nice clothes, but mostly they were work clothes. "Dinner is what he said, but if it's a proper date I'm assuming the most he gets afterwards is a coffee."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that sweetie," Carina laughed as she pulled a few different dresses from the wardrobe. "We have forty five minutes to get you ready, so get in the shower already!"

"Ok, ok," Hermione huffed as she strode towards her en-suite bathroom, disappearing behind the door as it closed. "What are you going to do while I'm gone?" Hermione called through the door as Carina heard the shower turn on.

"Hit a bar, there's a place in Diagon Alley that Ginny was banging on about," Carina called back as she lay out possible options for Hermione to wear. "Might as if she wants to join me."

* * *

Hermione disappeared out the door, wearing a little white dress with a corseted top and frilled skirt, black tights and a pair of bright red heels. She had left her hair hanging down naturally, and kept the makeup to a minimum with only a little bit of liner and mascara. She looked good, definitely date worthy.

She left the house breathless and smiling, something that made Carina smile. Hermione was too tightly wound, maybe a reckless thing would do her good, and if it turned into more, well, Rufus Fudge wasn't a bad option.

Carina had already contacted Ginny, who was more than up for a night out, so with a smile on her face Carina looked in the mirror once more, double checking she looked good, wearing a sea green body con dress, it was mid-thigh with a low cut front, but paired with a black leather cropped jacket and a pair of black studded biker boots, she didn't look too dressed up.

With a final smile in the mirror, she stepped into the fireplace, disappearing into emerald flames.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey!" Ginnys voice called, Carina turned to see the redhead walking towards her, Ginny wasn't particularly tall, only around 5"5 which was short in comparison to Carinas 5"9. But she had a figure to envy, she curved in and out in all the right places. She was pretty, with a round happy face, framed with long waves of ruby red hair, apparently a family trait. She was smiling, a full and excited smile, it was contagious. "I brought some friends, I hope you don't mind."

Nodding Carina looked at the people who followed Ginny, and Carina could have laughed. No, she didn't mind. Michael Piers was someone she remembered fondly, she hadn't seen him since he had delivered her to the Ministry; her memory hadn't done him justice. He was a big guy, all muscled, he definitely worked out, with brown hair and matching eyes, he had a stubble covered chin and the most alluring boyish grin she had ever seen in her life. It screamed trouble.

Beside him were two other guys, one of them was Harry, Michaels slightly less memorable friend, she'd been impressed with everything Hermione had told her, but when it had come to remembering his face, she struggled. Though the scar stuck out.

And then there was the other one, he was really tall, easily hitting six foot, with a mop of red hair sat messily atop his head, he filled out though, like an athlete Carina had once known, he was just slightly tanned as if he worked under the sun. Carina was surprised at how handsome he was, it wasn't the bad boy thing like Michael was pulling off, but… Well, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"This is Michael and Harry, you might remember them, and this one here is my brother, Ron." Ginny indicated to each person in turn, they smiled at her, as she smiled back. She was glad seeing Ginny, who'd turned up wearing a gold sequined dress – the lads had kept it slightly more simple in t-shirts and jeans, though Michael wore a leather jacket and Harry was a pale blue stripped shirt over his, Ron wore his without a jacket. "Now, I think it's time we get you to let your hair down."

* * *

The bar doubled as a café in the day, but as night rolled in, it worked as a club. It wasn't like the seedy, creep inviting clubs that Carina had been to before, but with the majority of people being her own age, and not so drunk they were looking like fools.

Between her and Ginny they had shared a large pitcher of some wicked cocktail that Carina had never heard of before, and now they were on the dance floor. Apparently Ron and Harry didn't dance much, Michael was more than happy to be on the dance floor.

As the alcohol surged through their systems, and the music pounded, Carina lost herself in the music.

As a teenager, she'd gotten in trouble occasionally at the Home, it wasn't a bad place, but she was restless and didn't quite fit in with the other kids, so she'd been sent for dance classes, just to give her something to do, and to stop her hanging out with the wrong kids. So she could move. When she turned eighteen she'd quickly moved out of the Home, and ended up living above a bar, working as a waitress and promoter for cheap rent. Half the allure was making sure there were beautiful women in there. It'd be a lie to say Carina didn't know how to work her body to its full advantage. Currently Michael was experiencing the advantages, as he positioned himself behind her, his hands on her hips as they moved in sync to the music.

Grinning she pulled away from Michael to pull him towards the bar, she was after a drink. Leaning against the bar, she could feel the vibrations of the music running through her body, it was a familiar thing she felt comfortable with.

"What you after?" Michael yelled in her ear over the sound of the music. Carina pointed at a drink on a menu before them, not really caring what she drank as long as it wasn't water. Their drinks arrive, and Carina was pleasantly surprised at the concoction she tasted. None of the drink here were anything she had heard of before, but they were good. "Enjoying yourself?"

"It's not that different, we had clubs in London," Carina laughed, leaning against the bar and turn her body towards Michael, his hand was around her waist. He was facing her, and there was an energy between them, it wasn't too intense, but like pleasant pin and needles dancing across her body. His eyes glinted a brilliant golden colour that spelled mischief before he leaned in, capturing her lips with his own.

* * *

"Piers is reaping the benefits of your latest mission then," Ron snorted as he drank form a beer bottle, seated on the tall stools that surrounded their table. He didn't know why he agreed to join them, Ginny had asked him along, not long after Harry had floo'd him stating that he too had been invited and there was no other option. Ginny was a force to be reckoned with. She'd gone on about a new girl – a girl was not really a fair term for a young woman who looked like Carina, who had never experienced the wizarding world, and how it was their duty to show her stuff. Ron had scoffed at the idea, but agreed to go along. Apparently, to watch the table. "He was quick to the punch."

"Been going on about her since we got her back to the Ministry, she lives with Hermione now, but our job was just to get her here, beyond that, well, she's Hermione's charge," Harry replied, he eyed Carina with curiosity, he remembered how surprising the wizarding world was when he was eleven years old – for her it must be much more difficult, and yet she seemed to fit in seamlessly. "I'll be having words with Michael, he tends not to think things through too thoroughly."

"You mean bumping nasties with the new girl?" Ron snorted as the pair at the bar separated, Carina was pretty, there was no denying that, being dressed up perhaps did not hurt. She was tall and very slim, just slightly too thin in that supermodel way that didn't usually appeal to him, she wore a sea green coloured dress, which clung to her figure like a glove, her legs were long and pale, like all of her skin, but not white, more like a white golden colour that was so fresh. White blonde hair was pulled up into something kind of bun thing with bits sticking out artfully; her makeup was natural looking with rosy lips and a hint of sparkle on her eyelids. She dress was low cut, something Michael had noticed much earlier in the night, and with her leather jacket discarded over a chair a lot more skin was on show. And yet, she didn't look easy, there was an air about her.

"Harry…" Ron murmured as he watched her closely, the way she held herself, the icy blue eyes, her as a complete person. "Who does she remind you of? I can't quite figure it out."

"I dunno mate," Harry replied shrugging, but he did not seem to be paying much attention.

"Harry… Seriously, who is it?" Ron was watching her with such intensity that the blonde woman turned and looked at him, raising a single eyebrow when they eyes met. Ron could feel his face flush with heat, he had not meant to stare at her quite like that.

"Are you ok?" A females voice asked, and Ron found himself looking into Carina's concerned face. Michael was at the bar watching them closely.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," Ron nodded, trying to regain his cool and knowing his was failing. Carina opened her mouth to say something but her name was called and Ginny was gesturing madly for her, so with a smile the blonde danced towards her friend on the dance floor, laughing as the two messed around.

* * *

"Well you're settling in well!" Ginny laughed as she threw some moves on the dance floor, her dress catching the lights as she did.

"Ah you know, got to check out the talent!" Carina giggled as she shimmied around the dance floor, she was under no illusions, Michael had all the right moves, which meant he had them practised. She was not interested in anything with anyone, she never had been. But that was before. Now… well, it was all too much to consider on an alcohol fuelled brain. "And this place definitely has some."

* * *

Hermione did not know what to say, she was literally lost for words as she stepped out on the terrace of a swanky restaurant, the terrace was lit up by hundreds upon hundreds of floating wisps of white light. There was a single table in the centre of the terrace, with a single rose in a vase sitting on it.

"Madame," A waiter led her to her seat, opposite Rufus, and helped her into her seat, and placed her napkin on her lap.

"We'll have a bottle of your finest champagne." Rufus instructed to the waiter who nodded once, before disappearing. "I hope you don't mind me ordering your drink, you can of course have something else if you would-"

"Thank you, but no." Hermione stopped him with a smile, it was not that she'd not been taken out for dinner before, but this was a whole other level. "This is just beautiful, I must say I'm slightly surprised."

"I'm wounded Granger," Rufus chuckled, leaning back in his chair to watch her, he was dressed in light grey suit trousers and white shite unbuttoned at the top, it was casual and yet there was something about it that made the attire appear very suave. "Do you think so poorly of me, that it surprises you so when I do take you out for dinner?"

"Dinner, no. But this?"

"I consider it a worthwhile investment."

Hermione laughed despite herself, earning her an amused smile a single eyebrow raise form Rufus.

"And investment?"

"Yes Granger, in you." Rufus replied with ease, watching her closely. "I believe in investing in good things, things I'd like to see grow and develop, you would be one of them."

"Is that a roundabout way of asking me out?" Rufus laughed this time, he looked every bit the mischievous lad she knew he could be when he did that, he was by no means old, but so controlled, it was exciting to see him like this.

"Yes, Granger, I think it is."


	10. Chapter 10

"You hussy!" Carina shrieked as she stood in the hallway of Hermione's bungalow, pointing her finger accusingly at her friend and housemate, who was stood in the front door looking thoroughly un-amused and wearing last night's clothes. "Coffee my arse!"

"Are you quite done Carina?" Hermione asked in a clipped tone, but unable to hide the grin that was pulling at her lips, and gave up all together. Carina laughed, linking her arm through her housemates before pulling her towards the kitchen.

"Make me the stuff that makes the next day not hurt so much!" Carina instructed, hopping up onto the kitchen table and watching as Hermione gathered together her equipment and ingredients, and setting to work. Within minutes she had a steaming cauldron and the kettle on the go. "So, how did it go? Did he woo you?"

"I was well and truly woo'd." Hermione replied smiling like a girl with a school crush once more. "He did good, really good. A private terrace dinner in a fancy restaurant, champagne, a menu so expensive the prices weren't listed, fresh strawberries for desert. He knows how to treat a girl."

"And?" Carina asked, looking for more information. She wasn't even trying to hide it, she wanted to know. Hermione had been a godsend to her, giving her a home and teaching her things every day, what she needed now was to know Hermione was happy.

"I think we're officially going out," Hermione told Carina with a giggle. "It seems a bit childish to call him my boyfriend though."

"Well, is he your boyfriend?" Carina asked, smiling from ear to ear.

"Yeah, he is."

Squealing, Carina leapt from the table and towards her friend hugging her tightly. She was excited for her friend, they'd spoken about their love lives when Carina had first moved in, a girly get to know each other, with hot chocolate and a chick flick they never actually watched. She knew that Hermione and Ron had dated but it came to nothing, and since then Hermione had seen no one. A confident, intelligent, handsome man was exactly what Hermione needed.

"And you, how was your night?" Hermione asked as she pulled away and poured some of the bubbling liquid from the cauldron into a mug, before handing it to Carina.

"Good, Ginny is such a laugh, I managed to have a quickie snog with Michael," Carina replied, hiding her grin behind her mug as Hermione resolutely focused on making the tea. "Your friends, Ron and Harry are a bit boring."

Laughing Hermione stirred the teabag around the mugs before reaching for the sugar, a thoughtful look on her face.

"It probably seems like that, we just did a lot before our time, I'll get around to telling you the full story one day," Hermione mused, wondering really if their years at Hogwarts had inadvertently aged them. "Just don't let that put you off them, to this day they are two of my best friends, I don't think I'd be here today without them."

"Well then, I guess I owe them too."

* * *

"It's a Saturday, so what are we gonna do?" Carina asked as they sat in the garden under the summer sun, fresh drinks in their hands.

"I should get to work, I have a case to settle-"

"You're telling me," Carina joked, but there was no smile on Hermione's face, Carina frowned, She consider for a moment not saying anything, but how long could that go on? "When can I know the truth… I've tried not to… I mean, I don't know if I want to know…"

"I don't know, I'll work out with Rufus how to do this, and push towards the answer, I'm sorry Carina, but that's all I can give you."

* * *

Unsettled, Hermione wandered into her office, apparently news travelled fast, and her date night with Rufus had gotten out. A few were brave enough to ask if she were mad to accept, other whispered behind their papers to each other, in both cases she would only smile politely before walking away. Idle gossip was not something Hermione was accustomed to, she'd never really engaged in it at Hogwarts, nor been the brunt of it – until now. Her office provided a nice sanctuary away from the whispering and the looks, but only for a moment, before she noticed a large bouquet of flowers on her desk, with pinks and purples oranges and reds. They were beautiful. She reached for the card attached to the vase and smiled.

_My office, 9am sharp_.

Of course he was direct and to the point, if even in such a manner. Placing her handbag she looked at her wrist watch, she only had a few minutes to be there so she turned her back on the flowers and made her way to Rufus' office.

"Morning Granger," Rufus stated, getting to his feet as Hermione walked into his office, he strode towards her, stopping directly before her. He grinned for a moment before pushing a stray strand of her curly hair behind her ear. "I feel we need to come to a final conclusion about what to do with your Malfoy case by the end of the day."

"I agree," Hermione stated, smiling at her boss and boyfriend. "I'd like to get Carina in today for a formal interview, I gave her the weekend to consider what she would like to do, from there, I'd like to inform her of her heritage by the end of the day, if you would like to inform the Malfoys of that I'd be grateful-"

"She's been living with you Hermione, so I know you're attached to the girl, are you going to tell her?" Rufus asked, there was the tone in his voice that meant he was asking something without directly saying it. He wanted to know how much of their sordid past she would tell Carina.

"They are her family, whether I like it or not, thus it is not for me to influence her opinion of them, though how she'll forgive them for abandoning her in the first place I do not know."

His hand reached and cupped her cheek, his thumb caressing the soft skin found there.

"You're as hard as bricks aren't you Granger, I'll have to break down those walls," Rufus murmured, his eyes softer than she had ever seen them before as he looked at her. "Get inside your head."

"Perhaps."

* * *

They were sitting in a Hermione's office, looking awkwardly at each other, the last time it had been like this, it had been their first meeting. Neither knew exactly what to say to the other, nor the possible outcomes. Instead the two women sat there silently, letting the tension stretch between them.

"So," Hermione said finally, not sure how to follow it up, but letting her mouth keep the flow going. "Have you decided on what you want to do?"

That was a question and a half, Carina thought to herself as she leant back in her chair, wondering how to answer. It should be a simple Yes or No, but it wasn't it was just so much more than that. There was no right answer, that much she knew, because how did you correctly answer the question what do you want to do about possibly meeting the parents that just didn't want you. In truth she wasn't really exactly sure what had happened, no one had really told her. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear it one way or another. If it was a lack of choice maybe they would be worth forgiving, but what if they really did just not want her. She wanted to believe that they did, because being raised in an orphanage is no joke, but there she was scared to find out the truth.

"Tell me what you know, and I will tell you what I want to do."

* * *

"She's beautiful… I look like her," Carina whispered as she looked at the photo Hermione had given her, it was of a couple with matching white blonde hair, the man looked severe and almost angry, she was clearly the submissive in the relationship, bowing to him. But she looked like the woman, had they been the same age they could easily have been mistake for twins. "That's my mum then, this woman, what did you say her name was?"

"Narcissa-"

"Narcissa?" Carina asked, her face pulled into a bewildered looked, she'd never heard a name like it before, it was definitely not a normal name, but then again she was hardly in a normal place. "And him, is he my dad?"

"Yes, Lucius, Lucius Malfoy."

"Oh shit, they've both got weird names, I was the first Carina they had in the orphanage but seriously, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, Christ on a bike."

Hermione smiled to herself, at least Carina was seeing the humour in the situation – something she found unsurprising. Growing up as she had, Carina learnt quickly to keep her emotions to herself, that much Hermione had gathered about her housemate.

"So what happened?" Carina asked, finally looking up from the photo, searching Hermione's face for answers. There was such innocence in her blue eyes that Hermione desperately wanted to lie to her, to protect her, but she couldn't.

"It's complicated, but I'll explain as best I can, then you can decide what you want to do."

"As you know there was a war, it all centred around one thing. Blood. Blood purity to be specific. I'm a muggleborn, I have muggle parents and grandparents, those that have fully magic parents and family are considered purebloods. The Malfoy family are a pureblooded family. In the war, there grew the opinion that those that were not of pureblood were not worthy of magic, things begun to spiral very quickly out of control, Harry was in the centre of it, with me and Ron."

"Now, the Malfoys sided with the other side, they too believed in blood purity. It was not uncommon a hundred years ago to abandon unwanted children – children who could hinder the view of a family being truly pureblooded. Often they were born as what we call squibs, children without magic. For most families this isn't a problem, but for those that consider blood so important it is a great shame on the family."

"When you were born the war was coming to a head, people were dying, betraying one another, everyone was terrified. Your mother had until then not produced an heir, but you and your brother were born. A boy to continue the name, and you. You are the younger of you and your twin brother, Draco, that his name Draco. Children can't control their magic like we do as we grow older, Draco was older, the male heir, when magic happened your parents just assumed it had to be him. Fearing the possibility that you were a squib, you see Narcissa has a squib in her family, they decided against having you."

"Given how far in the group of what we call the Deatheaters, it would have been a cause for ridicule and possible suspicion for you to have stayed with them; I dare say your life would have been in danger. You were apparently weak as a child; they had no reason to suspect you were magical over their much healthier son… Evidently they made a mistake."

"A mistake?" Carina almost laughed, that was the biggest understatement that she'd ever heard, growing up in an orphanage hadn't been easy, and unlike most the other kids it wasn't like she'd been taken away from her parents because they mistreated her – hers just didn't want her. But they wanted her brother.

"Carina… I'm sorry…"

"Officially who am I?"

"Carina Elle Malfoy, twin sister of Draco Lucius Malfoy, Daughter of Narcissa Katarina and Lucius Abraxas Malfoy."

"Carina Malfoy."


	11. Chapter 11

Silence stretched out as they sat in Rufus' office, no one said a word, or looked at each other, all remaining in their own bubble as they waited. Time tickling by, and all the unspoken words flinging between them.

She was unwanted. The dirty little secret they tried to hide, it didn't matter that they were wrong; the mere suggestion made her a nothing in their eyes. The dirty little secret.

The door opened, breaking the tension that had settled over them. And Carina nearly cracked. She stood up, and turned, it was as if every second took a lifetime, before her eyes fell on them. They were immaculately dressed, the clothing clearly expensive. They were perfect looking, just beautiful. But wrong. In truth she half imagined herself a family, where the mother and father loved each other dearly, but gave her away for her own protection, maybe they had even died together, but they loved one another. These two looked so disjointed.

"I wanted to meet you, to introduce myself, and state now, very clearly. I don't want anything to do with either of you!" Carina spat before she could help herself. She was disgusted, fury surged through her veins as she noted the indifference on their features.

"Fudge, is this what you called us in for?" The man asked, Lucius, her father. And yet he was clearly nothing more than a cold hearted bastard. "The arrangements could have been made without this spectacle taking place."

"Unfortunately Mr Malfoy, giving your part in this unique situation I am afraid to say you are not in a position to state what is necessary and what is not," Rufus replied with a politely clipped tone, his face set in an unreadable mask. "When our charge requested to meet you for her own purposes, it was our duty to simply ensure that happened, it is for you to act how you will to ensure whatever outcome you wish."

The woman, Narcissa, her eyes remained firmly on Carina the whole time, as if the conversation had gone completely over her head, her hand reached up towards Carina, as if she weren't even aware she was doing it.

"So beautiful…" The woman murmured, catching Carina off guard as she stared bewildered at the woman before her, realising for the first time that tears glistened her ice blue eyes as they looked at each other. It struck her that her mother was crying.

"Narcissa," Lucius hissed, tugging on his wife's hand. "Now, we said we would set the girl up financially, and then I want to hear no more of this nonsense."

"You just want this to disappear so the truth doesn't come to light; you were let off so easily after the war for all your crimes, you think by brushing this under the carpet you can keep your precious reputation!" Hermione spat at Lucius, feeling so angry with herself for having such an outburst, but more so for his sheer audacity. "You are incredibly blind!"

"That's it! I want her off this case!" Lucius barked at Rufus who looked impassively back at him.

"I think it's perhaps time we all calmed down," Rufus stated firmly, Hermione instantly reeled in her anger, though she was still frustrated at herself for her outburst. She straightened her shoulder and took a deep calming breath as she stood there, not looking at the couple directly, but then she felt a hand on her arm and blinked open her eyes to find herself looking at Carina.

"What happened?"

They'd been living together for only a short while really, but Hermione had doubled as a teacher and a friend, in all that time Hermione had been nothing but polite, kind mannered and friendly. To see her crack so easily told Carina that there was something very wrong, that for her to act so out of odd, something must have happened. Her eyes turned towards the couple, but neither would look at her and Carina knew instantly it was them, that Hermione reaction was not wholly unexpected.

"Nothing that you need to know Carina, so don't concern yourself," Hermione replied, forcing a smile on her face, but there was no reining it back so quickly. "Here's your chance, do with it as you will."

"I don't want anything from him," Carina snarled, glaring in the direction of Lucius, for him she honestly felt absolutely nothing. But the woman beside him, she wanted so badly to feel compassion for her. "He disgusts me."

"Carina, you also have a twin brother, who you've not yet met." Hermione reason, smiling at her friend.

Silence stretched between them for a moment before Carina took a deep steadying breath.

"Does he even know?" She asked, her voice wavering slightly.

"No." Narcissa answered immediately, as Lucius scoffed.

"Draco does not need to hear anything in regards to this nonsense," Lucius snapped, glaring in the direction of Carina. "He has a successful job which requires his focus, these trivial matters do not concern him."

"I'm afraid Lucius, that is another decision you are not responsible for making," Rufus interrupted, before smiling widely at the blonde haired man. "And with your confession of parentage over this girl, we need to do a small test, just to have absolute confirmation; from there you will be expected to reimburse her for the eighteen years she had spent without a family, an expense I'm sure you can afford, as well as paying the expenses for her living arrangements."

"Fine." Lucius snarled before turning on his heel and exiting the room, Narcissa did not follow immediately, she stepped towards her daughter, and for a moment looked like she may have hugged her, before Lucius snapped her name and she decided to give one last smile before disappearing out of the doorway.

"Bloody hell," Carina sighed. "I think I was better off without a mum and dad."

* * *

"That went better than I expected," Rufus stated as he rubbed his hands over his face, he pushed back his blonde hair musing it. He smiled at Hermione as she sat on his desk, she was exhausted. Walking towards her he placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "Come back to mine, we'll call it a day for now, continue the work tomorrow."

Hermione nodded, jumping from the desk with a great sigh, she nodded and moved with Rufus towards his personal fireplace in his office. Almost instantly they were in his living room, it was quiet and peaceful, Rufus said nothing, just wrapped an arm around her shoulders leading her towards the bedroom.

Exhaustion was what meant she let him undress her, though a surge of adrenaline went through her body when she felt his finger brush the scar along her stomach. She looked at him, seeing the curiosity in his cool blue eyes.

Stood there in her bra and work slacks there was no escaping the view before him in the early afternoon light, so she decided on honesty.

"Antonin Dolohov… I was sixteen, we'd broken into the Ministry of Magic… Spell, sliced me pretty much open, I healed, but the scar won't fade." His fingers moved upwards, over her chest to her neck, tracing an almost invisible line that went across her soft skin. "Yes… The things that happened in _that_ house."

"Tell me." His voice was not pushy, but she knew then she would.

"A knife to my neck," Hermione murmured as she traced her fingertip along the faint line she had all but forgotten was there. She looked down at her forearm, the one that truly haunted her, broken after the war, and exhausted; she knew she had been branded for the world to see. Mudblood. The letters were written across her arm, purposely for show. It had only been a single part of the torture she had endured, that Lucius Malfoy had stood and witnessed. The scar no longer bore the word mudblood, there was no healing it or hiding the scar, so she had replaced it. It had been stupid, but she was a terrified teenager at the time, scared of her own mortality, and branded for life. So she took and knife and had removed that brand. It was odd now to consider it, she half felt like she owned it now. "It once read the word mudblood, now, it's just a mark."

"More than that happened," It was not a question but a statement.

"A lot more, but others suffered far worse than me, Rufus."

"That doesn't make it ok," Rufus suddenly growled, he caught her face in his hands and kissed her with a passion and heat that made her knees buckle, so he pulled her flush against him. "You are an incredible woman Hermione Granger, and I'm going to show you just how much I think so."

* * *

"You don't look surprised," Carina stated as she sat opposite Ginny. Carina had shown up at Ginny's home just hoping she'd be around, as it was she got lucky. Now sat in the reasonable sized living room with a mug of tea in her hands there was an understanding between the two. "Did you know?"

"I guessed." Ginny admitted with a rueful smile as she sipped on her tea, she folded her legs beneath her on the soft black sofa, and tried to look apologetic. Perhaps because she felt like she should have told Carina, but in truth the blonde girl could not blame her for not doing so, if she'd been wrong that would be a whole other drama to deal with. "You look like a Malfoy, a bit more rough and tumble than them, but you hold yourself like a Malfoy, and of course, the hair, the eyes, the skin. Hun, you're gorgeous, they may be a bunch of vile shits, but they're a pretty family."

"Yeah, vile is one word that spring to mind," Carina sighed, not sure really where she stood on the whole issue, in truth no real decision had been made about their next steps.

"Honestly, that's not quite a fair assessment… Lucius, your dad, he's a totally an idiot, but your mum and brother… I guess they aren't so bad… I mean, she puts up with her husband, and such, but I've never actually known her to do any wrong, and in all honesty, Narcissa saved Harry's life." Ginny told Carina with a small smile on her face. "Hermione was with you wasn't she? When the family were there?" Carina nodded curtly, taking in this new information. "Hermione was tortured in their house, a woman named Bellatrix, your aunt and Narcissa's sister tortured her… They all let it happen. There's spell we have, curses, which are beyond illegal to use, that are far beyond cruel… The pain makes you beg for death, the scars Hermione has… I love her as a sister, but Hermione cannot give you an entirely fair view, though I would guess she tried, and I don't blame her for that inability. The things that happened to her, the way it felt, well, she never talks about it…"

"But are they bad people?"

"They're not all good, and I personally hate your father, for things he put me through… But the rest of your family? Well, I don't know." Ginny answered honestly, she reached forward, gripping Carina's hand in her own. "Maybe you should find out."


	12. Chapter 12

Hanging his cloak on a coat hanger by the door a young male stood in the door way and rubbed his hands over his face. He was young, pale skinned with white blonde hair atop his head; he was slim in the way that said he kept in shape without building too much muscle. Shaking off the tiredness of a long day at work he moved forward, he didn't feel relaxed like he would usually would after work, because he had not returned to his own home, but had been summoned to that of his parents, the Malfoy Manor. A house he could easily leave behind him.

"Mother," He called as he stepped into the sitting room, smiling when he saw his mother sitting quietly in the sunlight that shone through the window, reading a book, she placed it aside and got to her feet when she saw him. "You look well." Striding forward he placed his hand on her arms and lent forward kissing both her cheeks. It was the closest they shared to physical affection, a rare occurrence. "Is there a reason I was summoned?"

"Yes, follow me through, your father is in his study," Narcissa replied with ease, and moved gracefully from the room. Wandering through the house was an odd experience these days, Draco rarely returned home, expect for family occasions.

They treaded along the magnificent carpet towards his father's study, which sat near the grand staircase. The study itself was decorated in a blank way, with dark walls and wood panelling. It was lit by a large window that shower the expanse of garden outside.

"Lucius," Narcissa said softly, getting the attention of her husband. Draco was surprised when he stood up and walked towards them, usually he remained seated.

"Draco, your mother and I decided to inform you of some information before it gets into the papers," Lucius stated, there was a frustration in his tone… It was less than a decade ago he could have controlled what went in the papers, today he did not hold such power, something that still irked Lucius Malfoy. "You have a sister, a twin sister, named Carina, she is currently back in the wizarding world, staying with that Granger girl."

The way he said it, he might have well been telling Draco this month's shopping list. Not that he had a twin sister. And for a moment, Draco honestly believed it to be a joke, his face broke into a grin, he held back a snort of laughter and looked to his mother with amused bewilderment, looking for some reasoning by his father's turn toward comedy. However, his mother had gone shock white, and stared at Lucius with wide eyes, a pleading look on her face – as if begging for more.

"Mother?" Draco croaked out, the amused grin falling from his face, into an expression of horror. "Mother, may I remind you, that father put me through years of counselling to rid me of my imaginary friend, Carina, as a child. For that reason I know this must be a wildly misled joke."

"You were a child, Carina was given away, you were just meant to forget about her," Lucius told him, his voice patronising as he spoke. "We couldn't have you speak of her, revealing to people what we had done!"

"What you had done?" Draco demanded, feeling anger well in him. As a child he'd been punished on mentioning Carina, his 'imaginary friend', his father put him in to see a man who would ask him questions about her before explain repeatedly that she did not exist. Eventually he believed it. The last time he had seen her, he'd been very little, he couldn't even really remember it.

"We thought she was a squib, could you imagine the disgrace that would bring onto our family!" Lucius snapped angrily, his frustration at his decision being questioned was getting to him. "A Malfoy being a bloody squib! Unheard-of! And it certainly wasn't going to be a child of mine!"

"Bloody hell!" Draco snarled as he stood there before his father. "No fucking wonder you can't get your standing in society back! You're actually a fucking idiot!"

A sudden painful burst of light before his eyes and the thudding pain in his left cheek were the first things he felt, he stumbled, but did not fall to the floor. Instead he raised his hand to his cheek and felt the spot where his father had hit him. For all their arguments that had never happened before.

"You don't get it do you, no one cares anymore about blood purity!" Draco snarled at his father, who stood there his face as red as a tomato, had he been a cartoon he was sure steam would be billowing from his ears. "You're so fucking obsessed with the image of the bloody family, it a joke! We used to be respected; now we're a bunch of criminals that never actually had to serve our time, and you make it even worse! My sister! You actually sent my sister away because she may have been a squib? Is she?"

"No, she isn't." Lucius gritted out. And there was nothing to be said, so Draco turned on his heel and stormed form his father's study. Unsure he'd ever be willing to some back. Something's could not be forgiven; something's were too much to deserve forgiveness. Draco knew that this was one of them.

* * *

A knock at his door made Harry look up, his door was as it almost always was, open. In the doorway he was surprised to see a familiar figure, though he had not really seen the person for a while. He indicated to the chair before his desk, which the person took silently, looking thoroughly uncomfortable.

"Is there something I can do to help you?" Harry asked when the person offered up nothing once they had taken the seat at his desk. He pondered for a moment before daring to speak again, sure of the reason why he had the visitor. "Is this by any chance in regards to the Ministry charge?"

"Is that what they're calling her?" The bark like laugh that it had come out with was unexpected but Harry nodded once in confirmation. He eyed his visitor, noting that they had the beginning of a black eye form, marring the usual perfect features.

"Are you alright Malfoy?" Harry asked when no more was said, his visitor shifted, clearly uncomfortable, before nodding curtly. "Then what can I do for you?"

"Granger, my father let slip that I had a sister currently staying with granger," Draco explained slowly, as if wording his situation was far too complicated, which perhaps it was. "I went to her office, and to Fudge's. Neither was available, so I came here… She's your friend, is she not?"

"She is, but unfortunately she does not reside in my office." Harry replied in the same manner in which Draco spoke to him. Smiling with amusement at the awkward man before him he settled into his chair. "Let me floo her, see if I can get hold of her, maybe she'll be able to get to see you today. Hermione's busy, but she's fond of your sister."

Leaving Draco in his office for a moment, Harry tried to contact Hermione, but to no avail, not even Carina answered his floo. Returning to his office he smiled apologetically at Draco.

"No answer, if you would like I'll get a message to her, and I'm sure she'll contact you." Harry stated, he rose expecting Draco to leave however the blonde haired man remained in place.

"Have you met her?"

"I have," Harry answered, it was odd, in all the years Harry had known Draco, he had seen a wide spectrum of emotions form his from despair to fury. As the war ended the two had not become friends, but acknowledged each other then they bumped into each other at work. Now, the man sitting opposite him, he just looked lost. And Harry had no idea what to do. "She's pretty, looks a lot like your mum, I saw a pic of her once at Grimmauld place, your mum and her at the same age could be twins-" Harry panicked for a moment, remembering that Carina was in fact Dracos twin, but he did not acknowledge the slip. "Seems smart, bit paranoid, but from what I can gather she thought she was a government experiment gone wrong – muggle TV and all that." He paused wondering what he could really say about the woman. He barely knew her. "She seems nice, like genuinely nice."

Nodding his head as he absorbed this information Draco finally got to his feet, he reached forward and shook Harry's hand and left without another word.

"Well crap."

* * *

"Stupid bird," Hermione grumbled as she walked towards the window, she'd been happily snoozing in Rufus' arms when the owl had begun pecking furiously on the bedroom window; Rufus had groaned and rolled over, leaving Hermione to fetch the letter she guessed it had for him. Wrenching the window open the bird offered his leg for Hermione to collect the letter, the moment she did so he flew off, not waiting for a response. "I hope you have an owl, that one scampered." Hermione muttered as she crawled back into the bed, looking at the letter it took a moment to realise it was in fact address to her. "Oh."

"Rufus, I have to go." Hermione squeaked as she scrambled to collect her clothing. She stumbled as she tried to get her show on, wearing a pair of jeans and a crumpled shirt would not do, she searched through Rufus' shirt until she found one that looked ok for her to steal. "I can't believe you convinced me to take a sick day! I should have known better."

"It was worth it." Rufus mumbled form the bed, before reluctantly pushing himself up to Look at Hermione, dressed in his white oxford shirt, a pair of jeans and her heeled black work shoes. "Get back to bed."

"I can't. Apparently Draco Malfoy turned up at work today, when he couldn't find us, he went to Harry, who couldn't find me or Carina." Hermione explained as she pulled her hair into a ponytail and checked her appearance in the mirror, she dashed into the bathroom and Rufus could hear the distinct sounds of teeth brushing. "I now have to find Draco, figure out if he wants to meet Carina, and if Carina wants to meet him, then arrange that, and from the sounds of Harrys letter, Draco isn't in the best frame of mind."

"Not your problem, I should be your problem right now, you're off sick." Rufus told her with a grin on his face. "If you go into work, you'll get us both in trouble."

Hermione bit her bottom lip and Rufus reacted by shoving the blankets off his naked body, standing up walking towards her, and throwing her over his shoulder, eliciting screams and squeals form her as she struggled against him. Then he dropped her on the bed. "Talk to Carina tonight, find out if she even wants to talk to him, then contact the Malfoy kid and arrange a suitable date on her terms. Carina is the victim in this, and as such, should be treated as if her opinion is of the highest value. You know that your little redheaded friend has taken her out for the day to keep her occupied until this is all sorted out, and I'm sure their having fun. Now can we have fun?"

* * *

Dinner was on the table when Hermione arrived home, chips and steak pie. Carina hadn't been big on cooking apparently when she lived on her own, but as Hermione had a self-stocking fridge and cupboards the blonde woman was beginning to learn. And it smelt really good.

"You didn't have to," Hermione stated as she took a seat at the kitchen table, opposite Carina. She'd gotten back from an admittedly exhausting day with Rufus, and she was starving. "But thank you."

"It's alright, I figure you're kinda like my family these days."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." Hermione stated softly, looking at Carina to assess her reaction. The young blonde woman stilled, but her face showed nothing, it was clear she was listening intently, but nothing was going to give her away – a trait that suddenly struck Hermione as very Malfoy-ish. "As you're aware, we've had contact with your parents, your brother however…"

"My brother…"

"He's been in contact with us, I don't yet know if he wants to meet you, or the situation at all," Hermione admitted with an apologetic smile, she reached forward and grasped Carina's hand in her own. "I want to know what you want to do."

* * *

_Dear Mr D Malfoy, _

_I would like to request your presence at the Ministry of Magic, tomorrow afternoon at 4pm. I realise the shortness of the notice, however it is a matter of the greatest urgency and thus needs to be be addressed promptly. _

_Confirmation is not required. _

_Regards, _

_Hermione Granger_

_Misuse of Magic office_


	13. Chapter 13

She fidgeted as she sat in the chair in a medium sized meeting room; she was not for the first time unsure of herself. Dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a rolling stones t-shirt, Carina was not sure what was expected of her – or of what she should expect. This was not a normal situation for a girl to find herself in, which was a hilarious concept, considering how Carina grew up.

Abandoned to an orphanage, realising she was _different_, letting herself believe the reason she was abandoned was to protect her – she could make things happen, she didn't do it often, scared of herself. She let herself believe that she was loved and being protected. And it was all a lie. She was unwanted. She had the powers, though in truth, it was only as she finally settled herself into a small flat in London and thought she was safe did she really begin to use her powers, which was how she ended up here.

About to meet her brother, who was deemed better than her. Who was wanted. Unlike her.

The door opened and she stared resolutely at the floor, unwilling to face him. She heard a sucking in of breath and looked up uncertain she could take it.

Her eyes met his, and she saw an odd image of herself looking back at her. For a moment she could see exactly what she would look like if she were a boy.

White blonde hair was carefully parted, into a neat placement, evidence of someone well groomed. His face was brilliantly clear, all pale skin which demanded attention to stormy grey eyes, which were different to her own ice blue ones. He had the same, slightly upturned nose of someone from a clearly aristocratic background. He was tall and slim like her, but he had broader shoulders. He dressed in a clearly expensive muggle suit, one that she'd never have even bothered checking the price tag – it would be ridiculous.

He stared at her, a full on mouth hanging open stare. She fidgeted under it. She opened her mouth to say something, but didn't quite know what.

"Carina." She blurted out finally. "My name is Carina."

"I know." He replied, seeming to finally regain composure. Carina nodded once, searching his face once more. There was bruising on his left cheek bone, it was recent with the way the colour was blooming. "I'm Draco." Nodding, Carina twisted the bracelet that was on her wrist, not sure what to say to this person who was both her twin and a complete stranger. "Erm, we can stay here, and chat in this awful room, or would it be ok if I took you to dinner?"

"No, sorry… I just…" Carina looked over Draco's shoulder to see Hermione standing there looking cautious. "It's…"

"No, I understand, I should have known better," Draco told her, before walking into the room and taking a seat, leaving room between him and Carina. "I apologise."

"It's ok," Carina looked uneasily at Draco then to Hermione, not sure at all what to say. It seemed Hermione got the clue as she stepped into the room.

"Draco and I were in the same year at Hogwarts, you would have been too, though we were in different houses, you remember the houses Carina?" Hermione asked getting the ball rolling.

It worked.

* * *

"That hat said I would have been a Ravenclaw, which sounds cool. I mean, Imogen, Professor McGonagall, she says I'm learning wand magic quicker than she expected," Carina told Draco as they sat across from each other at the table in the meeting room, she pushed the mug of tea back and forth between her hands, still needing to endlessly fidget. "I know Hermione was a Gryffindor and you were a Slytherin."

"Yes, it's a family trait, one which you seemed to have escaped," Draco told her ruefully, taking a sip form his coffee, he was not quite sure what to say to the young woman opposite him, how did he explain to her everything he thought and felt about this situation – should he even attempt to? His sister he reckoned was a very pretty girl, but she was not a Malfoy – not born and bred like he was, taught to be a Malfoy, and yet she still held some of the traits that could have so easily have been lost given the way she was discarded. She did not dress like a Malfoy, but she held herself well, with shoulders back and the air of confidence, without the arrogance he knew that both he and his father could be accused of. There was truth in the statement that she looked like their mother – she was the splitting image of the portrait of his mother on her wedding day, Narcissa had been young when she married and had them, and Carina was her doppelganger.

"Our parents… they're…"

"Something else?" Draco chuckled as he leaned back in his seat, watching as Carina searched for the right words, but there were none. "Our father is a product of his time and beliefs, and he'll make no apology for it. He's wrong, but that's an argument best left to simmer beneath the surface. Mother, she's different, but too a product of her times and beliefs. I think when she was young she loved father endlessly, and does to this day, but the fairy tale she imagined hasn't quite lived up to expectations."

"Tell me about it." Carina sighed as she pushed back a stray strand of hair.

"Quite." Draco nodded his head and sighed, how unfair it must seem to her. And it was. "So, let me see your wand."

Carina smiled proudly, as she pulled out the long stick, presenting it to Draco. Her wand was truly beautiful. It was smooth and thin, it had carvings in the wood, tiny little silver swirling lines which thinned out the further up the wand they got, the wood was dark, almost black, and the last few inches the swirls gathered together and rose out of the wood to form a sort of silver coloured handle.

"What materials were used?" Draco asked as he inspected the wand closely.

"Hawthorne wood with a Dragon heartstring core," Carina answered with a fond smile, she didn't really use her wand much, it was a difficult concept after using what Imogen McGonagall called wandless magic, but she did like her wand.

"My first want was Hawthorne too, and our father has a Dragon heartstring core, you are a Malfoy," Draco commented before handing Carina back her wand. "Mother named you after a constellation as well, I almost can't believe they were so naive."

"Well, their mistake."

"True," Draco conceded, he picked up his mug of coffee and took and sip, considering what he wanted to say next. Finally he placed it back on the table and looked Carina in the eye. "Are you happy living with G- Hermione? If so I am happy for you to remain there until a time you feel comfortable moving out, of you would like a space of your own, I can provide you with one."

"I don't want any of their money-" Carina snapped, not quite meaning to.

"It's not theirs. It's mine. We come from a very wealthy family, Carina, but I have stepped out on my own and worked hard, I could provide you with somewhere of your own, if you so required."

"I like living with Hermione, she's teaching me stuff, and I get to have friends and go out…" Carina admitted, Draco smiled and nodded his head.

"And work?" Draco asked.

"We'll figure it out once I finish my education, I should be done by the end of the year." Carina told him with a small shrug, Draco nodding, considering this for a moment before smiling.

"I would like then to give you extra tuition in Potions, it is my area of expertise," Draco told her with a look of confidence on his face.

Carina eyed him for a moment deciding upon the best course of action carefully before nodding her head. "Fine."

* * *

"And back again?" Imogen asked eagerly as she watched her student successfully transfigure a teacup back to a tortoise. "Carina! That's excellent!"

Grinning Carina looked at her teacher, Imogen McGonagall, her hands clapped together a look of pride on her face. Imogen had been a brilliant teacher, and seeing that made Carina's heart swell. School had never been her strong point, she'd not fit in with the other girls, and the boys often wanted only into her knickers. The teachers thought she was odd, like everyone else, and while they were not unkind, it was a solitary existence. The orphan girl, left abandoned, who was weird. It didn't make for a hugely successful school career.

"Thanks," Carina said bashfully, Imogen smiled at her warmly.

"You have a great talent, Carina, and are overcoming so much… I can see great things in your future."

"You've been great Imogen, and Hermione has been helping me out around the house, she's written up a timetable and everything and Draco…" Carina trailed off. It had been only a couple of weeks since she had agreed to let Draco tutor her in Potions, he had agreed with Hermione two sessions a week. He'd come over to Hermione's, she'd have dinner ready for him, and then they would have an evening session, in which he was tell her all about whatever potion she was required to learn. In truth, he knew what he was talking about. However, it was clear neither him or Hermione were comfortable with him being in her home. "Well, he's good at potions, what more can I ask for?"

"A brother." Carina looked at her teacher, someone she had begun to consider more of a friend honestly, they were sat down on a desk in the transfiguration classroom, the turtle happily munching on a lettuce leaf before them. Imogen smiled knowingly at Carina. "He's not just a tutor, he's your brother, you've had eighteen years apart, and form such a young age. The potions is a good way to get to know each other, you're a smart girl Carina, don't let this chance pass you by, and do the thing you want to do… Get to know him."

"but-"

"But what?"

It was a good question, and one Carina was not entirely sure she had the answer to.


End file.
